Love When You Aren't Looking
by Aleandri
Summary: Destiel AU-with canon parallels. Mechanic!Dean bombed a proposal. Business!Cas is on the mend after a break-up with his boyfriend. How do two such different men meet and fall in love? And can it last when Cas's world starts to implode? Features nosy brothers, plotting friends, great music, corporate espionage, and Kitten!Lucifer. Humor/Romance/Drama! More details inside!
1. Chapter 1-Breakfast

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters. This is an AU with no spoilers for the actual show. However, practically all of the characters are from the various seasons, and you may not recognize them if you are new to the show.

This story is technically Romance/Drama/*HUMOR* but I could only select two genre. It features Dean/Castiel as the main story (so, Slash, VERY M-rating), but also has many other character romances, including gay, straight, bi-sexual, and lesbian as side stories. You have been warned. ; D

I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Dean's day could only have gotten worse if the car he was currently working on had slipped off the jack and pinned him underneath.

He cast a hateful glare towards the device propping the silver Audi up, as if daring the Fates to make their move. He kept his intense focus on the jack as he lay on his back in his filthy coveralls.

After several seconds he released a bitter hiss and pulled his gaze back to the work above him.

His arms were tired. His back was sore. He had shallow cuts on his hands that were bathing in oil and dirt as he worked on the bent axel.

All of that was fine.

On any other day, Dean would have embraced the physical strain on his body. He would have been completely focused on the task, and on doing his best to provide the kind of quality work that he was known throughout Lawrence, Kansas for doing. He may have even been humming along to Don't Fear the Reaper as it blasted out of the speaker system nearby. But not today.

Today Sam had made Dean an incredible breakfast.

Dean had woken up to the mouth-watering scent of bacon, eggs, toast, and Optimism for the Future.

Five minutes after sitting down, he had a plate piled high with quickly cooling breakfast food and a pit in his stomach that nothing could fill.

Of course he knew immediately that something must be up if Sammy made him breakfast. The last time had been been two months ago when Sam had been in a minor collision in his Tacoma, and had tried to hide it from Dean. As if calling the auto shop where he worked and begging Dean's friends not to tell would have worked out. After Dean had made sure Sammy was OK, he had spent the entire evening yelling about being careful and keeping secrets. The next morning there had been pancakes, sausage, and eggs waiting for him. Sammy couldn't afford the repairs.

Before that, Sam had got in a tight spot with money because he was severly in debt from his student loans. He had made a huge breakfast, let Dean get half-way into it, then asked for a two thousand dollar loan for a new laptop.

Then, of course, there were the Apology Breakfasts.

Sorry I locked you out of the house last night so I could hook-up with 'what's her name'. Here's some French toast.

Sorry I borrowed the Impala without asking, forgot to fill the tank, and left you and your date stranded on the highway at ten p.m. at night. Twelve-egg omelete?

I swear I didn't know that you were hitting on that chick, too. Sorry she ended up leaving with me. Biscuits and gravy?

There was a wide range of reasons that Sammy would have made Dean breakfast, but none of them were good.

He steeled himself for the worst, and asked, "Sammy, cut the crap and tell me what's up."

Sam turned his big brown eyes up from where he had been studiously keping them trained on the plate in front of him. He shrugged to one side and turned intently back to his food, shoveling in as much as he could manage.

"Sammy, stop fucking around. I know you have something to say. Just get it over with."

Sam's eyes returned nervously to Dean's and he looked like he would have given anything in the world delay the topic just a few more minutes. Dean swallowed thickly and sat his fork down on the table beside him, waiting.

In his mind, terrible scenarios were playing out. One of their friends was injured, or possibly dead. Sam got a chick pregnant. The auto shop Dean worked at had been destroyed in a fire. Scene after horrible scene was flashing through Dean's panicked mind as Sam slowly swallowed his food and cleared his throat.

"Jo says Lisa is engaged," he finally muttered, holding Dean's eyes.

Dean felt like his heart had slammed to a stop.

He could hear the buzz of the kitchen lights overhead.

A dog barking outside in the street.

The chair creaking under Sam as he shifted uncomfortably, but he still held that eye contact.

Lisa was engaged.

Dean had no problem comprehending the fact. He was not in denial or under the impression that he was having a horrible nightmare. As he sat in the hard wooden chair at the small kitchen table, with Sammy's puppy-dog eyes watching him with pity from the opposite side, Dean only had one thought racing through his mind on repeat.

_What is so wrong with me?_

And that very thought had not left the forefront of his mind afterwards. He had moved numbly through all the motions. Telling Sam that he was fine. That he wasn't angry or planning to do something stupid. Thanking him for the huge breakfast and assuring him that it wasn't necessary.

His smiles had felt thin, and he tried to look at anything to avoid meeting Sammy's eyes. Sam had the decency to try and change the subject, make it seem as if it weren't a huge deal. Like Dean's life wasn't completely turned ass-up. But Dean barely heard any of it.

"Ellen says the gig sold out," Sam was rambling out.

_I thought she would just take a break and come back to me._

"Ash had two more NASA recruiters practically camping outside his trailer waiting to try and talk him into a job again." Sam laughed, and Dean quickly laughed, too, but wasn't paying attention to a word of it.

_She was the only one who stayed with me so long. God, no one else could put up with me like she did._

"I think my Criminology Professor is trying to hook up with me by leaving risque notes on my returned essays. She's at least fifty years old."

Dean hummed something along the lines of, "If it will get you an 'A'..."

Sam wasn't fooled by Dean's noncommittal answers, but chose to keep the topics away from Lisa for as long as he could.

Then, after the remaining food was cleared off the table, Dean had bid good-bye as his younger brother began to race out the door heading to campus.

Sam had stopped for just a few moments in the front door as Dean made his way past it, heading down the hallway to his room to change for work.

Sam had looked as if he was considering putting his blazer and keys down and coming back inside. Dean cast him a hard look, head up, challenging him to say something and see what happened. Sam kept his saddened eyes on Dean's for a few more seconds, before huffing under his breath and shutting the front door behind him as he left.

Dean had waited a few seconds, until he heard the sound of Sam getting into his car in the driveway, before leaning his full body weight against the hallway wall and sliding ungracefully down it, into a heap.

He stayed there for almost an hour, repeating that same nagging question.

_What is so wrong with me?_

…-^o^-…

The phone ringing had been the cue to Dean that he was still zoned out on the hall floor in nothing but his pajama pants.

It had been Bobby calling to see why Dean wasn't at work yet. The fact that the elder man wasn't cussing a storm and threatening to fire Dean was a big clue that Sam or Jo had already put in a call to let the Auto Shop know about Lisa.

Dean would have felt ashamed and pissed at Sam for spreading his personal business around, but all he could manage to dredge up was a hollow sense of pride.

He couldn't stand to have people see him this weak; to tip toe around him, all the while wondering how someone as attractive and popular as he was could lose another girlfriend so soon. To whisper to each other gossip about all the others-the dozens of hot, seemingly perfect women, who won Dean's attention. And who promptly became fed up with his nonchalant attitude toward them, and left.

It had been a nightmare after the marriage proposal fiasco. The looks and whispers. He had wanted to hide in his house and never show his face in public again.

His friends had been the only thing that saved him. They had coaxed him into speaking, lightened his mood, visited every single evening.

His house practically became their new hang out spot, so Dean figured he might as well just go back out to work. He was seeing all the people whose opinions he had feared most daily, anyway.

Slowly and with great effort, Dean had been able to keep his smile on, even when someone occasionally slipped up and mentioned Lisa. But, inside, the thought never left.

_What is so wrong with me? They never stay._

Dean tried not to dwell on it as he dressed sluggishly, the beginnings of a headache forming.

Lisa had lasted the longest. She had stayed with him for eight months.

Even Dean had recognized that he wasn't giving her the attention she wanted, but she had always laughed him off. She joked that he was just her eye-candy, and that she understood that he was afraid of commitment when they first started dating. She had ignored the gossips, her friends, her mother-everyone- when they warned her that he didn't seem as in love with her as she was with him.

He had needed that. Someone to keep assuring him that he wasn't broken. That he wasn't alone. He had believed her. He had believed that she was the one. She understood his emotional distance, his joking about serious matters to hide his discomfort, his need for them to have separate lives and personal space.

He felt that if there ever was going to be a clue that he had found 'The One' that this was it. No sparks.

No choir of angels.

No clouds parting as a ray of golden sunlight shone straight down upon her.

Just great sex and patience.

In retrospect, proposing on that basis was an obvious mistake.

The look in her eyes as she bluntly said 'No' made it clear that she had no intention of saying 'Yes'.

They had contained pity. Dean wasn't sure if it was all for him, or if she had suddenly realized that she had wasted eight months on a lost cause.

She had walked out on him, still bent on one knee, in the middle of the Road House, their favorite bar, with his friends and family shuffling uncomfortably nearby. She had left Lawrence before the end of the month to live with her sister across the state.

That had been five months ago. Dean had been striking out with his few one-night-stands since then, looking for that same patience she had showed him immediately. He hadn't been able to find anything but horny college chicks and cougars.

And now Lisa was engaged.

Well, Dean was an expert at faking that his life was perfect. He had nearly convinced everyone that he was a happy-go-lucky bachelor who never wanted to settle down. He could do it again.

But, every so often, he would see the sad glances from his friends or family, or overhear whispers about how he was never going to find someone that would put up with him and his emotional distance.

And he would respond each time by turning up the Charming, and smiling brighter.

But Dean was tired of pretending that he wasn't afraid of ending up alone. It was all he could think about.

And now Lisa was engaged.

…-^o^-…

Dean finally rolled himself out from underneath the Audi nearly an hour later. Bobby had been respectful, in his own way, by only telling Dean to 'Hurry the Hell up' a few times. Dean bit back heated retorts each time the older man fussed at him.

He chose instead to hide his foul mood behind humor, making comments like, "You know Bobby, you could come on down here and help me, but we would need a second jack to get your old ass back up."

He earned several laughs from his coworkers, Ash and Benny, and at least one light kick from the geezer himself throughout the course of the day.

All in all, noon rolled around with Dean still in a foul mood, but sure that he had left the impression with everyone at the shop that he was completely over Lisa, and unaffected by her engagement.

Sitting alone in the back break room of the Auto Shop at lunch time, Dean ruefully checked the imaginary box as 'successfully completed'.

He was confident that the 'manly-men' he worked with would excitedly dash back to the rest of their mutual friends to assure everyone that he was fine. He wasn't going to shut himself up in the house again.

He was probably going to be the main topic of conversation at the Road House tonight. He didn't want to go there and hang out this evening, but he knew it would look bad if he didn't.

Dean sighed to himself, weighing the benefit of having close caring friends versus locking himself in his and Sam's house, and letting Netflix be the only friend in his life.

Dean was interrupted from his thoughts when Ash burst through the break room door, startling Dean.

"So, the owner of your Audi is here to pick it up." The way Ash was smirking irked Dean in his foul mood, but he forced the irritation down and shrugged lazily.

"That was quick. I was wondering why Bobby made that car a priority today," Dean said with little actual interest as he feigned reading the magazine he had sitting on the table in front of him.

"The reason," Ash continued excitedly, "is because that car is the company car for the President of ADA, inc.!" Ash finished by throwing his hands high in the air, as if gesturing that the information was the most incredible thing he had heard in his life.

Dean eyed him cynically for several moments. Ash maintained his upraised arm stance and waited with a look of absolute patience.

The standoff lasted a nearly thirty seconds before Dean accidentally released an authentic chuckle- the first one since hearing about Lisa that morning.

"Alright. Alright. So, is Mr. Moneybags himself gracing our magnificent shop with his presence, or did he send his 'chauffeur'?" Dean asked mockingly.

He, Ash and Benny made a pastime out of knocking on the rich smucks who deigned to receive service from the small garage. It was common knowledge within a hundred mile radius that Bobby's Auto and Salvage was the best car repair shop around. That's what made the clientele so varied and interesting.

But, the ADA company was way out of the main stream from their normal jobs. And the President's personal company car? That was unheard of. The company employed people from all over the state to work in Lawrence. It was huge. And wealthy. And too upscale to bother with a local auto shop, no matter how good.

Ash was leaning against the rickety table, a gleam in his eyes as he met Dean's. "I'm not sure who this guy is, but he is dressed way too nice to be a chauffeur."

An opportunity to harass a stuck up rich guy was just what Dean needed to get his mind off Lisa. He and Ash moved at the same time, lunging excitedly out the break room door toward the open bay garage.

* * *

A/N: Castiel is introduced in the next chapter (possibly as an incentive tactic to make you all return….)

Next up: If you think Dean's day sucked, read about Cas's in Chapter Two. Nothing says it's going to be a bad day quite like waking up in bushes with a hang-over. Or getting crossed by a very unlucky black cat.


	2. Chapter 2-Cars and Cats

Castiel had locked himself in his spacious office for the last four hours, not even bothering to turn on the lights.

The hazy gray daylight filtering through the blinds didn't help his mood-or his hang-over. The weather had been overcast with sporadic downpours all night and into today with no apparent signs of changing.

His trench coat hanging on the coat rack by his office door had been steadily dripping onto the expensive carpet. His finely tailored suit was damp and beginning smell. The scents of dirt and alcohol were the most noticeable.

His phone had been ringing steadily, in time with the pounding of his head, but he chose to ignore it for the first time since moving to his new position at the Lawrence, Kansas location of ADA, inc.

He had seen his new secretary, a red-headed woman named Charlie, very un-covertly walk by the uncovered glass panel of his office door dozens of time since he arrived in late this morning. She looked worried, but was respecting his request that she not disturb him. He felt a small twang of guilt each time she peeked in; he liked Charlie. His previous secretaries at the other locations he had worked at had been either stuffy old women or alarmingly desperate young women with too much make-up and a bad habit of playing on their phones all day.

Charlie was a big change. For starters, she was blunt in an extremely friendly and familial way.

When she greeted him at his arrival a month ago, her first words when she saw him were, "Hot damn! You are way hotter than the last guy!" Followed immediately by a panicked, but sincere, "Oh! But don't freak out because I think your hot! I am a huge lesbian! Like, I totally recognize how hot you are, but, it just wouldn't work out between us! I mean, not that I have anything against you personally, or guys personally. I mean, I've sometimes thought about a threesome with Freg and George Weasely, but that was something else entirely…." She had seemed to mentally wonder away at that point, then snapped her attention back to Castiel. Turning bright red and looking pointedly away, she finally muttered, "Anywho. I am your secretary. Yep…."

Castiel had been alarmed, but not entirely put-off by her personality. By the end of his first day, he was thanking whatever powers had given Charlie her job. She was brilliant, funny, intuitive- and had him pegged as gay by lunch. She still wouldn't tell him how.

Now her boss was sitting alone in his dark office refusing to interact with the outside world. And smelled like a liquor store. Castiel couldn't dredge up the motivation to explain his horrible last forty-eight hours to her. But, it kept replaying on rewind in his mind.

…-^o^-…

It was all because of Gabriel. He was like a misfortune magnet, with the incredible power to deflect all bad luck onto the people around him. Specifically, onto his younger brother, Castiel.

Castiel had known as they grew up that being around Gabriel was always a trainwreck waiting to happen- in slow motion, with no survivors.

It was never intentional on Gabriel's part to get his younger brother into shady situations. In fact, most of the events started out as well-intentioned efforts to help his brother out.

Then they cascaded into full-blown disasters. Every time.

Gabriel tried to 'encourage' Castiel's middle school teacher into passing him in Math- with a wad of hundred dollar bills. Castiel had been transferred to a new school.

Gabriel decided to 'supervise' Castiel's first time drinking. They had ended up drunkenly trying to outrun cop cars-Gabriel desperately trying to keep hold of the stolen traffic STOP sign as they navigated through back yards. He ended up being fished out of a pool. Castiel remembered the way the helicopter spotlights lit up the horrified family's faces as they watched from inside their home.

Gabriel had tried to 'help' Castiel come out of the closet. They were both banned for life from all Disney theme parks and resorts.

Most of Gabriel's stunts were centered around the need to provide a more solid father-figure in Castiel's life as he grew up. Their actual father was always around, but he was like a ghost in the room. A silent man who watched them both quietly and smiled gently. He never made any attempts to intervene in their lives. Never attempted to curb Gabriel's wild antics. Never insisted that Castiel follow in his footsteps. He just looked on as they lived their lives and made their mistakes.

To the rest of the world, their father was an image of a well-dressed businessman smiling on the cover of Forbes with fancy title. He was known as the Founder of ADA, inc. And they were 'The Heirs'. To Castiel, he was the silent stranger with eyes that matched his own.

Castiel had secretly hidden one of the magazine pages of their father under his pillow when he six. One night he had gone to pull it out and wishfully think about knowing his father better, and making him proud.

Someone had drawn horns, a mustache, and a uni-brow on it. Gabriel had refused to apologize. He had always been put-off by their father's emotional distance. Especially after their mother passed, and their father continued to work even harder at his job.

But, by far, the worst way Gabriel had screwed Castiel over was recently.

Gabriel had felt bad about not being able to work in the same city as Castiel. As a Senior Executive, Gabriel was able to get away with practically anything he wanted. And, having a massive brother complex that bordered on obsessive, he had always kept Castiel close.

Gabriel had pretended not to know that Castiel had filed a request to go anywhere that put distance between him and his older brother (Gabriel's last stunt having resulted in Castiel spending forty-eight hours in jail).

The obvious answer to the unfortunate distance between the two brothers, of course, was to set Castiel up with a handsome, successful, and blatantly gay Boardmember.

His name was Dick Roman.

Castiel had been consistently unfortunate with his choice in men his whole life. When he was younger, he had made the mistake of believing in true love and pretty words and promises. It had taken several nasty surprises and ugly break-ups for Castiel to understand that people would lie if there was money involved.

He was pretty sure a least three of his previous boyfriends weren't even gay. Some people would do anything for money.

His luck didn't improve as he grew older. He was a sucker for a handsome face. He found himself drawn into unreturned crushes with straight men more often than not. Those were the worst. He had felt like a stalker-watching as the men of his dreams hit on girls in the office, talked about their wild nights with random women, got married and lived happily ever after.

After a nasty incident with a co-worker, who turned out to be very much straight, and very easily upset about being confessed to by another man, Castiel had finally given up.

His self-imposed celibacy had lasted over three years.

Then Gabriel, being the super-helpful, concerned older brother, had sent him Dick. Literally.

Dick Roman had seemed relatively safe at first. Sure, he was over-confident and cut-throat at work. But, he worked hard to win Castiel over. Plus, Castiel had the added benefit of knowing for sure that Dick: a) wasn't after him for his money, and b) was as gay as a bowl of Fruit Loops.

A big, horny, bowl of Fruit Loops that felt so sure of his dating skills that he went for a home-run on the first date.

And, damn it. Castiel had let him. Three years was a long time, and Castiel was tired of the waiting and wanting.

Their relationship had lasted four months.

Castiel had been able to grit his teeth and deal with the narcissism. He could even manage the embarrassment of Dick being…well, a dick to anyone who wasn't as 'elite' as himself. He could even deal with the mediocre sex.

The breaking point, that made Castiel pack his bags in the middle of the day and fly to his brother's home office location in Lawrence, Kansas without warning, was because of a conversation he had overheard between Dick and another 'elite' business associate.

Castiel had just left the two alone to chat as he headed downstairs to return to his office, but had hurried back up to check on dinner plans with Dick for that evening. He had stopped before turning the corner on instinct when he heard his name mentioned.

"Castiel Novak, huh?" The associate asked, the smirk clear in his voice. "What's that like? Don't tell me you think hooking up with the youngest in the family is going to get you handouts from the Old Man."

Dick had laughed smugly, before answering, "Don't be ridiculous. All I need to impress the old bastard at the top is my natural charisma. Castiel's just a good looking lay who has too many self-esteem issues to ever leave me. You should have seen how desperate he was to hook-up with me on the first date. It was actually pathetic. I'm the best thing that could have happened to him- and he knows it."

Castiel had stood in stony silence for just a few more seconds, listening to the two men chortling about his sad, lonely life. Then, that small, well-hidden spark of dangerous pride inside him had flared into a full blown flame.

He had walked with his head held high out of the tall office building. He had stopped briefly to pack a bag at his condo, calling from the cab to the airport, to arrange for the local company jet to fly him to Kansas.

As bitter and miserable as he was, he still cracked a genuine smile every time his cell phone rang over the next several days, flashing the caller ID 'Dick'.

…-^o^-…

Naturally, Gabriel managed to wheedle the reason for his sudden transfer out of him in under three weeks. Castiel had held strong for so long because he knew Gabriel. Once his older brother overcame the guilt of having set his little brother up with a conceited jack ass, he was going to be out for blood. And being a senior executive for the entire company, and all of its branches, Gabriel had an arsenal for 'career homicide' at his disposal. Not to mention a twisted proclivity towards poetic justice.

Castiel was legitimately concerned that Gabriel would make Dick Roman disappear. The kind of disappear where there was no body to prove a crime was committed.

So, he held out for as long as he could, trying to let time ease the shock of the situation.

But, Gabriel had only feigned lack of interest. Two-thirds through a bottle a Jack Daniels-that Gabriel had insisted was to celebrate Castiel choosing his new condo-Gabriel had started insidiously asking questions. It was only about ten minutes later that barely-drunk Gabriel was wrestling very-drunk Castiel for Gabriel's cell phone, to quote, 'Castrate that motherfucker so thoroughly he'll have to change his last name to Stub'.

In a last ditch effort to prevent his brother from possibly committing a premeditated murder, Castiel had dug deep and pulled forth his 'puppy-dog eyes'. Guaranteed to be Gabriel's kryptonite, he managed to drunkenly convince his older brother that there would always be more 'Dicks' in the world , but that there were still plenty of other 'dicks' in the world.

After laughing uproariously at a joke Castiel wouldn't understand until the next morning, Gabriel had agreed to not take action against Dick. But, he insisted that he be allowed to make it up to Castiel that upcoming weekend.

And that concession is why Castiel was now locked in his office, hung-over, wearing Friday's clothes, and why he probably had a warrant out for his arrest.

However, if the weekend was considered a cake, then this morning would have been the icing on it.

After having woken up to the cold drizzle of rain on his face that morning, he quickly-and painfully- began to put the last two days together. After only a few vague flashes of horrifying memories, he immediately shut his remembering function down and focused instead on the fact that he was going to be late to work, and could maybe still salvage some semblance of personal pride , and avoid the stereotypical lable of spoiled heir, if he just managed to make it into his office.

As he forced his stiff muscles into action and clambered up from between the two bushes where he was wedged, he took in his surroundings. He vaguely recognized his location as being the expansive backyard of one of Gabriel's many country homes just outside the Lawrence city limits.

He also took in the fact that most of his fellow co-workers, specifically the higher-ups and the college interns, were sprawled much as he had been, in various places and positions across the yard.

His mind tried to throw up some helpful memories to explain this strange situation, and Castiel fought hard to repress them, earning himself the beginnings of a nasty headache.

Hobbling quickly around to the front yard, he saw several cars parked haphazardly on the lawn. One he recognized immediately as the President of the Lawrence offices private company car. His pounding brain supplied bits of information slowly.

At some point last night, the rowdy group had raided the company car lot. Gabriel had helped himself into the key cabinet at the guard shack while the guard was 'investigating a strange noise (a junior intern making fox noises), and proceeded to pass out keys. Naturally, he helped himself to the President's Audi, slurrily stating that 'rank had priveledges'.

Castiel remembered assenting-mostly because President Crowley was a smartass- and hopping in as the fleet of company cars followed behind them.

Now gazing at the rain drizzling on the vehicle, Castiel took a brief moment to reflect hard on his life choices up to this point, which hurt his head, then moved to check for the spare key that was always kept in the visor.

Finding it, he quickly jumped into the driver seat-adjusting the seat position because Gabriel was significantly smaller than him- then left the disaster of Gabriel's country house behind.

He still had twenty minutes before he would technically be considered late for work, and was just passing into the city limits, when it happened.

Traffic was heavy as morning commuters made their way into the city for Monday work. The sudden downpour of rain was causing difficulty as other driver's attempted to navigate the slick roads-most probably hung-over, too.

Castiel had just got lucky, a long stretch of road opening up in front of him on the two lane road, when the car in the right lane abruptly slammed on their breaks. Castiel had just enough time to see a small black shape dart from the right lane into his, and to recognize that it was a tiny black kitten, before he yanked his steering wheel hard to the left and slammed on his brakes.

If it hadn't been for the Audi jumping onto the raised median and sticking there, Castiel would probably have been rear ended hard. As the tow driver explained afterwards, aside from the bent axel and some minor superficial scratches on the undercarriage, the damage was actually much better than it could have been.

Castiel had rode with the tow driver to the local auto shop, Singer's Auto and Salvage, where he listened to the owner, Bobby Singer himself, cover the costs and time it would take to repair. It was still early morning, and Mr. Singer was predicting at least two days before the car could be repaired.

Castiel hopelessly tried to explain how badly he needed to have the car repaired as soon as possible. He felt comfortable-or desperate-enough with the stern looking older man to outline the entire fiasco of the 'sort of stolen' president's car, the need to make a positive impression at his new job, and the bad luck of a black cat nearly killing him.

The older man didn't even bat an eye. In fact, he seemed to become more irritated as Castiel spoke.

After nearly fifteen minutes of shameless pleading, gratefully observing that no other mechanics were in site to witness his begging, all Castiel could manage was to talk the man down to one day. And technically, it was the exorbitant amount of money that did most of the talking.

Huffing a defeated sigh, and wincing as his headache gave a particularly painful throb, Castiel finally conceded. The man, Bobby, barely acknowledged Castiel's distress, and walked over to the main counter to check out a rental for him.

Castiel walked back to the tow truck that he had been picked up in by the young-looking mechanic from earlier to collect his soaked trench coat and other items.

When he turned and walked back toward the owner at the front desk, he saw the man's eyes land on what he was holding.

"What in the hell is that?" He asked, appearing more confused than angry.

Castiel frowned looking down at the wiggling ball of wet fur nestled in the folds of his bunched up trench coat, then back at the man.

"A very unlucky cat." He grumbled, instinctively pulling the small kitten in closer to his own body heat.

Bobby Singer had re-quoted the car repair for pick-up at noon that day.

…-^o^-…

And so, at a quarter till noon, Castiel carefully poked his head out of his office, and noted that only Charlie was sitting out in the secretaries desk area. She seemed hopeful when she noticed him finally emerging from his office. She was about to ask how he was feeling when she noticed a small, fluffy black head pop up from the trench coat in his arms.

It is to her credit that she didn't squeal. But, for a terrifying second Castiel was sure she was going to.

Before she could manage to pull her attention away from the now mewling form trying to claw its way out of its tan, cloth prison, Castiel quickly moved toward the elevator, whispering hurriedly under his breath to her, "Have you heard anything about the President's car?"

Charlie looked even more confused, eyes darting from her boss, down to the kitten losing its battle with the trench coat, and back up. "…no?"

Castiel threw his head back with a heartfelt release of nervous breath and jumped into the elevator, praying that his newfound good luck would get him, and his tiny charge, out of the building unnoticed.

…-^o^-…

When Castiel arrived back at the Auto Shop, he was just beginning to really feel the effects of his situation. His hangover had faded. He was damp. His clothes-despite being expensive and well-tailored, were disheveled. He had no idea what he must look like after having partied all weekend, and woken up in bushes. And he felt sore all over.

He compromised with his pride, and decided to wear his trench coat to hide his filthy suit, and just place the kitten into the car as soon as he got to it inside the open bay garage.

One of the mechanics, the name tag said Benny, went to pull Bobby and the paperwork out of the main office-only after staring intensely at Castiel and the feisty ball of wiggling fur he was barely managing to keep in his arms.

Castiel felt a huge wave of humiliation strike him. He must look deranged. He would never be able to live this down if word got out that he was the son of the ADA, inc founder.

He forced himself to remain calm and collected. Everything was fine. He was getting the car, and would return it, apparently undamaged, back to the lot before Crowley even needed it.

Then he would drop the kitten, who was currently trying to eat his coat's wrist strap button, off at the local cat rescue.

It occurred to him that he should probably check in with Gabriel soon. If he wasn't unconscious on the premises of his country home, then he may be in the drunk tank at the Lawrence Police Department.

Yes, everything would be fine just as soon as he signed the paperwork and got the hell out of here.

Finally, he saw Mr. Singer emerge from the office, followed closely by the mechanic, who Castiel noticed was still staring at him, but with the hint of a smirk now.

At that same moment, he heard the loud banging of a door to his far left, and turned to see a skinny man with a ratty mullet emerge smiling, followed closely by…

Castiel just barely managed to stop his jaw from dropping.

The second man, who Castiel's eyes had immediately welded themselves to, turned his sparkling green eyes from the mullet haired man laughing in front of him, and locked directly onto Castiel's.

* * *

A/N: First impressions are my favorite. I am excited about writing the next chapter!

Next up:Our boys finally meet! Cas panics! Dean fishes for compliments. And Benny doesn't get it (but Ash and Bobby do).


	3. Chapter 3-Blue Eyes Meet Green

Dean's grin faltered immediately as his eyes locked on to wide blue ones from across the garage. For a brief moment, he felt like the world had slowed down around him as the stranger held his gaze with a strange intensity almost like fear.

Then, the man broke the spell, turning sharply away to greet Bobby as he arrived and began speaking.

Dean was so thrown off guard by the immediate attention from the stranger that he almost missed the first words Benny said to them as he joined Dean and Ash by the vending area.

"Not the president, but definitely a high level suit." Benny stated, as he looked pointedly over at the stranger. They were at an advantage, the man having turned to face away as he fumbled around with whatever he was holding, trying to fill out the paperwork on the clipboard Bobby had handed him.

Dean stared appraisingly at his profile from the side. He understood Ash's assumption that the man was well-off. His clothing, despite looking crumpled and stained, were clearly well-tailored under the trench coat. His shoes, though scuffed and coated in layers of mud, still shined from polish. His tie hung loosely at his neck. He had a dark layer of stubble across his jaw. And his hair- Dean couldn't hold in a smirk- was pointing in every conceivable direction.

This stranger looked like he had just survived a wild weekend of booze, women and poor decisions and was doing the Walk of Shame to return home.

Dean weighed his overwhelming dislike of the wealthy with his desire to congratulate a fellow hard-partier.

Before he could decide, Benny continued in a lowered voice,"From what little I could get at out Bobby, the car may have been stolen, which explains the rush on it." He smiled widely, "Plus, I got in a word with Adam, who was coming off the night shift and towed him in earlier. Apparently, this guy nearly died trying to miss a cat in the road, then spent the next twenty minutes holding up traffic to catch the fuzzball. Adam thinks he's a nut job, for what that's worth."

Dean and Ash listened to this with growing grins on their faces. They had seen some crazy shit in their time at the auto shop, but the man in the well-tailored suit stealing his boss's car, wrecking it, and chasing a cat around in traffic was almost impossible to picture. It certainly didn't match up with Dean's image of stuck-up businessmen.

But then again, neither did bed-head and disheveled thousand dollar suits.

Over where Bobby and the man were standing, there seemed to be some kind of problem. The man kept nearly dropping the clipboard, and readjusting his hands. Bobby was looking on with a look of gruff annoyance, that Dean immediately recognized as the 'trying not to laugh and ruin his tough image' look.

Suddenly, the man completely dropped the clipboard, both hands darting up to his shoulder where a small animal had launched up and made a valiant attempt to jump off his back. The stranger barely caught the small cat by it feet, but the creature dug its tiny claws in and refused to budge.

Ash was the first react, yelling "Kitty!" and running in long strides over to the where the stranger was contorting himself and his arms into crazy positions trying to keep hold of the animal.

Benny chuckled loudly beside Dean, and looked over to meet his eyes, "I think this poor bastard's had his fair share of grief for today. What do you say we take it easy on him, and just double-up the misery for the next rich jack ass that comes in?"

Dean glanced back over to where the man was holding himself still as Ash removed the feisty kitten claw by claw.

He looked worn-out, and defeated, like this embarrassing episode was was just one more on a long list. Dean felt a twang of sympathy for the man. He could relate to the feeling, the image of Lisa flashing painfully through his mind.

"Yeah," Dean shrugged, remembering the wide blue eyes that had just been locked onto his, "It would feel like kicking a puppy." He chuckled, and walked alongside Benny to join the group.

…-^o^-…

Cas waited until he had driven several miles down the road from the Auto Shop, before putting the Audi in park, and resting his head on the steering wheel.

All he could manage was a long, drawn-out groan.

He finally allowed the waves of humiliation to wash over him. It would have been fine if just Bobby Singer had been there. The older man had already bore witness to his shame earlier that morning. He wasn't the problem. Neither was Benny, the dark haired smirking man with the southern accent, or the strange mulleted man, who he now knew was named Ash..

The problem was a pair of bright green eyes and snug fitting coveralls.

Castiel could face embarrassment gracefully-he had perfected calm in the face of mortifying situations early in life. It was practically a survival trait when growing up with Gabriel's antics.

He thought he had been prepared to face the mocking stares in the auto shop, knowing that he would be out and away, never to return as soon as he got the Audi keys. He could have handled smirks and whispers without any second thoughts.

Until he found himself staring into the eyes of the hottest mechanic he had ever seen.

…-^o^-…

The moment the green eyes met his, Castiel's calm dissipated into sheer schoolboy terror.

Suddenly, his insecurities seemed larger than life. His mind flipped through his appearance critically, everything from his stained coat, wrinkled suit, and scruffy facial hair.

There he stood, facing the embodiment of every wet dream he had ever had in his life, and he knew that he looked like a drowned sewer rat.

He could have curled up in a ball and died, right there on the oil-splattered garage floor.

Realizing that he had been blatantly staring, Castiel ripped his eyes from the handsome face, his embarrassment growing exponentially by the second. Bobby began speaking, going over the details of the repair, but all Castiel could hear was his inner voice shrieking at him to run away.

His attention never left the man across the garage. He was painfully aware of the man's eyes on him and the fact that all three mechanics were talking in low voices, and looking in his direction.

At one point, Bobby handed him a clipboard with paperwork on it. The distraction of trying to juggle a clipboard and pen in one hand and a squirming kitten in the other managed to take precedence over his racing mind's various imagined conversations that the three men could be having about him.

_Oh, God. Please let me get out of here without making an even bigger fool out of myself in front the sexy mechanic. Please, please, please._

God must have had some qualms with Castiel's actions over the last weekend, because at the exact moment, the kitten made a bid for freedom.

It must have been the terror of more embarrassment that fueled Castiel's body into action. Before he even realized that he had made a grab, he felt the tiny kicking legs of the kitten in his hands. He had only a second to mentally celebrate his quick save, before he felt the kitten's tiny claws digging into the thick fabric of the trench coat. Castiel desperately tried to reach his other arm around, afraid to lose his already tenuous grip on the kitten.

He heard a gleeful shout from the direction of the mechanics, and shortly after, the mullet-haired man, Ash, Castiel read on the name tag of his sleeveless coveralls, was carefully unhinging the mewling animal from him.

Castiel listened intently as 'Ash' coached him through the process. The guy sounded like a stewardess calmly discussing how to buckle an aircraft's seat belts. It was a huge contrast to his redneck appearance, Castiel noted wryly.

After only a short minute of careful extraction, the kitten was being held by Ash, as Castiel muttered an embarrassed "thanks" to the man, and proceeded to fill out the rest of the paperwork at lightning speed, desperate to escape the garage and never show his face again.

Unable to stop himself, Castiel's eyes darted over to where the sexy mechanic was standing, only to see that he and the one who had been smirking at him earlier, Benny it had said on the name-tag, were walking straight toward him.

Castiel felt his brain shut down. His eyes dropped to the paperwork in front of him, trying to look as if he was reading intently.

"It's a good thing that little fellow didn't get away from you," the one named Benny drawled out, "There are coyotes all over this area at night."

Castiel couldn't stop his eyes from snapping up to meet the man's, alarm coursing through him.

Benny continued, "Word is, you spent a long time trying to save that little critter from being roadkill this morning. It sure would be a shame if he managed to survive all that only to be eaten by wild animals."

Castiel stared hard at the man as he spoke, trying to discern if the man was joking with him or chiding him for being irresponsible.

The man suddenly broke into a full smile, and reached out, slapping Castiel roughly across the back. "Don't look so upset, friend," He laughed, "Ash here is practically a cat-whisperer. Your little friend wouldn't have made it far."

Castiel furrowed his brow, trying to regain his sense of bearing on the conversation.

That's when Bobby interrupted, "If you all have time to stand here chit-chatting like school girls, I can find you something more productive to do."

Benny and Ash reacted to the threat immediately, Ash grudgingly handing the kitten back to Castiel, before they both headed back to the other side of the garage.

Green Eyes, who had been standing quietly a few feet to Castiel's left, stayed where he was, and finally spoke up, his voice rolling like a smooth surface of a stream through Castiel's mind. "Oh, come on Bobby. I just busted my ass to get this guy's Audi fixed up by noon, I think I should have an opportunity to meet the man and the cat that caused me so much work on a Monday."

Castiel could hear the grin in the man's voice, but was too mortified to look up at the speaker. Instead, he kept his eyes turned down at the now-finished paperwork in his hands, keeping the kitten wedged tightly in his other arm.

_So, Castiel thought, Green Eyes got stuck fixing his mess. Perfect._

Bobby huffed and said accusingly, "If you're fishing for compliments, son, you'd best look somewhere else. You took twice as long as you should've fixing that axel, and it would've been even longer if I hadn't snapped you out of your daydreaming every five minutes."

Castiel kept his eyes trained on the paper, embarrassed to be the cause of the bickering. Green Eyes, however, didn't seem affected by the older man's tone in the least.

"Come on, Bobby. You know I need constant compliments from the customers to make me sleep better at night." He laughed as Bobby snorted, then suddenly he was addressing Castiel.

"What do you say…" He leaned close to Castiel, who tried not to cringe in surprise at the closeness. The man smelled like motor oil, sweat and sex, and Castiel had to fight back hard on the urge to inhale the scent deeply.

The man seemed to look at the paperwork for a moment, then continued, "…Ca-sti-el. Do you think you can help a guy out and feed my ego? Or do you reserve your heroic acts for kittens?" He laughed out loud his own joke, and Castiel made the mistake of looking up as he did so.

_Holy. Fucking. Shit._

The close rumble of the man's laugh mixed with the brightness of his perfect smile and glowing green eyes sent a bolt of arousal straight through Castiel's body. He felt the beginning of erection building. The panic of the man's closeness and his scent were like a double whammy.

Castiel tried to force his eyes anywhere but back to the beautiful green ones.

His mistake was to force them down.

Standing only a few feet from Castiel, he now had a close-up of the leanly muscled shoulders and torso, tapering into a firm lower body that was accentuated by the tight coveralls.

_Oh, shit. Abort!_

Forcing his eyes quickly back up in a light-headed panic, and hoping that his once-over had gone unnoticed, his eyes settled onto the man's name-tag.

_Dean._

The name bounced around the walls of Castiel's brain, where the rest of his thoughts should have been.

_Dean._

His brain, desperately fighting the rush of blood to his cock, couldn't strum together any words. At a complete loss for what to do, increasingly aware of the awkwardly growing silence and desperate to hide the growing evidence of his attraction, Castiel finally managed to force out a barely audible, "Thank you, Dean." Then, he practically shoved the finished paperwork at Bobby, and asked with a voice that he hoped didn't sound desperate, "Can I have the keys now?"

Bobby grunted, and withdrew the Audi keys from his coverall pockets.

Castiel all but snatched them, and began to walk quickly away. Suddenly realizing how ungrateful he must look, he managed to stop and force himself to turn back to face the two men.

"Thank you very much for your hard work today. You really saved me. I appreciate it." Seeing the matching looks of confusion on the men's faces, he added quickly, "If I hurry, I may make it back before they realize the car is missing. Thanks again."

And praying that the lame excuse would cover for his strange behavior and hurried exit, Castiel quickly ducked into the vehicle waiting just outside and placed the squirming cat into the seat beside him.

He hoped no one noticed the sound of the tires kicking up gravel as he sped away from the garage.

…-^o^-…

Dean listened as the sound of flying gravel came from just outside the garage.

He turned to Bobby, who had a frown on his face.

"Weird guy, huh?" Dean remarked, smiling in the direction the stranger had left.

Bobby grunted.

"It's rare for you to rush an order for a rich smuck." Dean grinned as Bobby turned his sharp eyes on Dean finally. "Don't tell me you're getting soft, old man?"

Bobby let out a loud snort, before saying, "Don't you have work to do?"

Dean chuckled, somehow feeling better than he had earlier. The weird businessmen, Castiel, had managed to give Dean a small sense of perspective. Even the rich apparently had to deal with some tough shit. Dean would have loved to hear the strange guy tell his story in his own words. Maybe they would meet up again and Dean would be able to ask.

Dean hoped Castiel managed to work everything out. He felt an odd sense of attachment to the haggard looking man in the trench coat.

Dean walked back to the workbench where the CD player was, and smiled as he turned the volume knob up. A few minutes later he was leaning into the hood of a car, humming loudly to ACDC.

…-^o^-…

Ash and Benny, who had been under strict orders from Sam to watch Dean closely today, noted the shift in Dean's mood. Even if Dean had valiantly tried to hide his feelings from them, they could easily tell, like Sam, that Dean was hit hard by the news about Lisa that morning.

Now, they watched as his hips swung comically side to side in tune with the music as he worked on the engine of the car.

Ash turned to Benny with a smile and said, "Well, Bro, I guess we can stand down the fire and police departments."

"I don't know," Benny drawled, glancing carefully at Dean. "One sad bastard comes in looking like he barely survived the weekend, and suddenly our boy is OK with his ex being engaged? I don't see how that works."

Ash looked at Benny critically, a smile planted on his face. "Oh, so you didn't notice?"

Benny frowned and looked from Dean back to Ash. "I didn't notice what?"

Ash gave a world-wise chuckle as he walked slowly away. "Bobby," he called toward the office, "you noticed, right?"

From somewhere in the office, I short grunt of assent was heard.

"Noticed what?" Benny asked again, growing more frustrated.

Ash ignored him and continued toward the back of the garage. Benny heard him mutter in his excited way to himself, "It's unexpected, but we can make this work, I think. It's going to be tough to arrange…."

* * *

Next up: The kitten cockblocks Cas. Castiel reflects on his last love-failure. A harpy attacks (sort of).

Special thanks to my first five reviewers-your feedback in these early stages means the world to me!


	4. Chapter 4-Oh Gabriel, Where art Thou?

Castiel made a straight shot from the auto shop to his new condo. The humiliation of being seen in such a miserable state by the man Castiel had mentally dubbed 'Dean, the super-sexy mechanic', finally overwhelmed all of his other concerns. Fuck returning Crowley's car. And screw Gabriel, wherever the Hell he washed up this morning. And the kitten….

Castiel gave a pensive glare in the direction of the small creature mewling loudly from the passenger seat floorboard. "Don't you act innocent with me," he mumbled lowly to the kitten, "The hell was that back there? You're like the worst wingman ever…."

The kitten blinked up at him and yawned widely.

Castiel released a frustrated sigh. He was blaming a freaking kitten for potentially cock-blocking him. From an almost definitely straight man.

God, his life was a disaster.

Castiel parked the car and raced with the kitten up to his apartment. The moving crew had delivered his things last week, and he was mostly unpacked at this point.

Unsure of what to do with the kitten in his 'unkitten-proof' apartment, he brought the animal with him into the large bathing room, and shut the door. A quick glance around turned up nothing that Castiel considered dangerous for a small animal.

The moment the hot water hit Castiel, it was like the rest of the world didn't matter. He moaned loudly, feeling the tension release throughout his entire body. Well, almost entire body, he mused with a small frown.

He was still sporting the mild erection from his meeting earlier in the garage.

Castiel pointedly ignored it as he deep scrubbed his entire body, basking in the clean smell of soaps and shampoo.

After rinsing off completely, he faced the big question: How to handle the erection. It was uncomfortable, and the washing and scrubbing had done nothing to ease it.

The idea of masturbating to the image of an unknowing stranger was off-putting to Castiel. It felt too much like a stalker, taking advantage of the man.

Nothing good could come from it, he tried half-heartedly to convince himself.

He stood in the shower, hands against the wall in front of him, leaning forward as the warm water poured over him, and let his mind wander.

Light green eyes meeting his from a distance. The warm, honey voice playfully teasing. The way the fucking coveralls hugged every tan muscle of his body, hinting at the golden masterpiece underneath.

Castiel allowed his hands to drop from the wall and smooth their way gently over his body- a brief stop to caress his nipples, a few teasing strokes down his firm stomach, and lower.

A loud crash shattered the air from the other side of the foggy glass shower pane.

Castiel's body tensed, his hands trembling just inches from his cock. He let out a slow hiss.

Sliding the glass panel back, he took stock. The various bottles and containers that had lined the counter of his ornate bathroom sink were strewn across the floor-several still rolling.

At the top of the sink, the master cock-block itself was chewing on several cue tips. The little creature perked up at seeing Castiel staring from the open shower.

They both held each other's stare. Castiel tilted his head to the side. The kitten mimicked.

Finally, Castiel's voice cut through the silence accusingly, "You are doing this on purpose."

The kitten mewled loudly and turned back to chewing the cue tips.

Castiel shut the shower door more forcefully than necessary, but the moment was already over. He stared down in frustration at his half-erection, and, with a small growl, turned the water temperature knob way down.

It took fifteen minutes, and absolute concentration on anything except cars and the color green to force the erection to finally subside.

…-^o^-…

Castiel managed to drop the president's Audi off and make it back to his office by 1:00pm, when everyone was returning from their lunch breaks.

Deciding that there would be too many questions if he showed up a the company car lot driving the vehicle, he opted instead to park it in the small parking lot for the guards when the coast was clear. He figured the guards would spot it immediately and handle the matter quietly amongst themselves. At least, he hoped as much.

He then proceeded to sneak as carefully as possible into the building, the small feline tucked in his dark blue jacket, and took the stairs up the ninth floor where his office was located..

The little creature had meowed the entire ride to the building in the Audi and all the way up the stairs to his office, earning him strange stares from the now occupied secretaries desks- with the exception of Charlie, who smiled knowingly and winked.

Castiel didn't care about the stares. It wasn't as if the man of his wet-dreams hadn't already witnessed him at his most humiliated already today. At least now if any more men that were built like greek gods crossed his path, he wouldn't look and smell like he had slept in a liquor store dumpster overnight.

The scene at the auto shop kept replaying in his mind. Castiel collapsed into his office chair and pitched forward, resting his head in his hands.

What a horrible way to meet someone. It was like the terrible scenario had happened to someone else, and Castiel was watching from the outside, mortified at circumstances before him.

He was never going to be able to show his face in that auto shop again. Never be able to meet the warm green eyes, and see the bright smile crinkling the man's face again. Never be able to know if those lush lips were as soft and warm as they looked. Never be able grasp that tight looking ass….

The image had an immediate affect on Castiel. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, using all the willpower at his disposal to banish the lingering hardness in his cock. Again.

A month, he thought.

It had barely been one month since he got laid last. Grant it, it had been a quick and dull hook-up with Dick, scheduled a day in advance to avoid conflicting with the other man's 'busy schedule'.

But, it was still something. Hell, he had gone over three years without sex before that. It had been rough, but he had survived with just the occasional solo performance.

Now he was practically daydream-humping a complete stranger in his shower less than an hour after setting eyes on him.

This was ridiculous, he thought mournfully. Odds were 1 in 1000 that 'Dean, the super-sexy mechanic' was even gay. Not to mention single. Castiel let out humorless laugh. No way someone like Dean was single.

He flashed back to the garage, trying to remember if there had been a ring. He realized belatedly that it didn't matter if he had not been wearing one. Surely he would take a wedding band off while working on cars all day.

Castiel moaned into his hands, hating that he was doing this to himself again. It happened every time.

Castiel's entire adult life had been like a bad record skipping over the same tune. Excited when an attractive stranger appeared. Sweet as Castiel let his hopes and emotions overrun his good sense. Sharp and fast as he was faced with their inevitable straightness. Slow and hopeless as Castiel watched from afar while the man of his affection found happiness elsewhere. And repeat.

He thought he was over this childish behavior. He had swore to himself that unrequited love interests were behind him. Now he was mature, and in control of his emotions. He could make realistic assessments-reign in his interests only to men who were openly gay and single.

Men who wanted him and weren't concerned about gossip or social stigmas.

Men like Dick.

Castiel cringed and groaned even louder at the thought of his last 'mature gay love interest'.

_That had worked out great,_ he chided himself.

In an effort to force thoughts of sexy mechanics and lameass-ex's from his mind, Castiel focused on the more immediate problems.

For starters, the kitten had just used his fake tree on the far wall as an impromptu restroom. He was now sniffing around the large office making pathetic mewling sounds.

Castiel stared down at the little creature. He had never really had a pet before, certainly not a cat.

It dawned on him that little creature was probably hungry and thirsty.

With a sudden jolt of guilt, Castiel jumped from his chair and began throwing open drawers and cabinet, casting frequent stares in the small kitten's direction, as if it would fall over from hunger at any second.

Coming up empty in his search for food in the new office, he quickly moved to the door and stuck his head out.

The three women were already glancing worriedly at his office door, no doubt alarmed by the long silence followed suddenly by the banging sounds of opening and closing drawers.

Castiel put on his best possible smile, hoping he didn't look as maniacal as he felt, and lied, "I…I seem to have forgotten to eat lunch today. I don't suppose any of you have something…?"

All three women's faces broke into relaxed smiles, and they began opening the drawers of their desks and producing items.

Charlie laid out a huge assortment of candies, including a party size bag of snickers, half-empty.

Castiel frowned at it from his office door and shook his head. He was sure that chocolate was not good for animals.

The other two women did better.

Anna, another red-head with a completely different personality from Charlie laid out her items with a quiet smile. She always had a pleasant smile on her face, Castiel noted, and rarely spoke to people unless they addressed her directly. It was calming to Castiel, who was still recovering from his past experiences with lousy secretaries.

Beside her, Jess was also covering her desk with snacks. Yet another godsend, Jess was more active and talkative, but still very kind and job oriented.

Castiel's eyes took in the large array of food, mostly chips and candies. Jess had produced a large (and expensive looking) box of fine chocolates, which covered the entire right side of her desk.

The rest of the group stared at her and back to the box, including Castiel, who could spot a romantic gift right away.

Jess blushed brightly, trying to hide an embarrassed smile.

Castiel's eyes returned to the desks, and spotted a tuna and cracker snack pack.

"Tuna pack!" he shouted, with too much excitement, he realized, when the women's eyes widened. He tried to tone down his enthusiasm before calmly pointing and restating, "Anna, may I have that tuna pack?"

Anna smiled gently, walking the the snack to where Castiel stood in the opening of the office door. Before she could reach him, a small shape leaped out from the office and froze between the two of them. Castiel dove fast, and had the kitten in his hands in a split second.

There was a brief moment of silence from the three women, followed by a loud course of 'ooohs' and 'aaawwws' and 'what a cutie'.

Castiel quickly signaled the women to keep their voices down, nervously looking towards the other offices in his area.

Charlie noticed his fearful glances and pointed out, "No one else but you made it in this morning- not even the interns. A few of them called late this morning to say they were sick, but most are still Missing In Action. And Ruby, upstairs, has been asking around if anyone has seen Gabriel. Apparently he hasn't checked-in at all today, either."

Castiel remembered the scene from this morning, noting that, yes, he had recognized coworkers from his office amongst the unconscious bodies strewn out across Gabriel's back yard.

Good lord, he thought, they were probably not used to Gabriel's wild weekends. He felt a flash of pity for the poor bastards.

He shrugged the feeling off, relieved to discover that the only witnesses to his horrible day were just the smiling secretaries in front of him. He relaxed, and faced the women. "I don't suppose any one of you would like to keep this kitten?"

All three shook their heads sadly, casting remorseful glances at both Castiel and the black ball of fur wriggling in his hands.

Castiel huffed a sigh, and gladly accepted the proffered tuna snack. Bidding the ladies farewell to return to their work, he reentered the office.

Castiel watched as the tiny cat ate enthusiastically, planting its entire face into the can and barely coming up for air. Castiel fought back a chuckle, still remembering the little creature's consistently piss-poor timing over the course of the day.

Pulling his attention away from the hungry kitten, he googled a map for the nearest cat rescue. He found it quickly and was relieved to see that they would be open when he got off work later.

Content that the cat issue would be resolved by the end of the day, Castiel focused his attentions onto a much more difficult task.

Locating Gabriel.

…-^o^-…

Charlie smiled to herself at her desk. Castiel was anything but boring, and she loved that about the guy. Despite his usually serious appearance and intense stares, he was actually extremely laid back and considerate. Not what she had expected from an ADA heir, and least of all Gabriel's brother. The incredible contrast between the two men was a topic of much gossip throughout the building.

Where Gabriel was lacking in physical appearance, he made up for it with impressive presence and an 'impossible to hate' attitude. The guy could, and given the opportunity would, swoon the pants off any woman he spoke to. And even men were inexplicably drawn to his charisma.

The little guy was a fire cracker of energy, and had the near-magical ability to get along with absolutely anyone. He was regarded by everyone as a eccentric playboy, but endearingly so.

Castiel, on the other hand, was extremely reserved and quiet. He handled work, social situations, and even his snack choices at the vending machines with a heavy consideration.

And, according to the few lucky women who had managed to get a word with him, 'when he looked at you with those deep blue eyes, you felt like he could see right through to your soul'.

Charlie sighed, grinning. She had been dutifully fending off horny office women since the first day Castiel arrived. Some she had even threatened with violence. It seemed like all Castiel had to do was smile and mumble a hello at a random woman in the elevator, and suddenly an army of high-heeled Amazonians were descending on the ninth floor, desperate for equal attention from the blue-eyed hottie.

Charlie wasn't sure if they were more attracted to his good looks, or his wealth. It was a pretty close tie….

She would have been more distressed by the constant confrontations she had to handle, but the fact that Castiel was gay, and completely oblivious to the attention cracked her up something terrible.

To her left, she noted, Anna was gazing distantly at the door to Castiel's office.

That was far less amusing, Charlie thought.

She liked Anna. Anna wasn't pretentious or catty like the majority of women working at ADA. She was quiet and always happy to be helpful.

And she was harboring a hopeless one-sided crush for Castiel.

It was so sincere and sweet that Charlie had been losing sleep about whether or not to break it to her that he was gay.

Charlie glanced over at the far desk where Jess sat, very un-subtly grinning as she texted on her phone.

Then there was this chick, Charlie mentally rolled her eyes, but smiled.

Jess was so obnoxiously in love with her 'mystery man' that Charlie was afraid of accidentally drowning in the excess cuteness. She and her Prince Charming had been dating for four months of absolute bliss and butterflies, and unicorns, etc. Charlie had been waiting for the inevitable end of the 'honeymoon phase' of their relationship. Instead, it was like volcano spewing higher, and building upon itself.

Based off what Jess shared with her during their chats, her boyfriend was the sexiest, most intelligent and thoughtful man in the history of his gender.

Charlie wasn't even into dudes, but she was itching to catch a peak at Mr. Perfect. Just to offer some objective perspective, of course.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the light ding of the elevator arriving.

Ruby, Gabriel's secretary, emerged, looking like a harpy out for the kill.

Here we go, Charlie thought with a deep breath.

"Where is Mr. Novak?" Ruby practically hissed, angrily flipping her long bleach blond hair from her face.

"And, would that be the elder Mr. Novak, or the younger?" Charlie asked in her most sarcastic professional tone. She fought not to smirk as Ruby glared at her.

"Well, since I am damn sure that the 'elder' Mr. Novak has dropped off the face of the planet, I am referring instead to his younger brother." Her voice grated as she spoke of her missing boss.

Charlie felt a small twang of sympathy for the woman. Gabriel went through secretaries the same way he did candy-quickly and unapologetically. Most had very violent breakdowns.

Ruby looked like she was about to follow suit. The craziest thing of it all? Gabriel absolutely adored Ruby. She had lasted longer than any of his previous secretaries, mostly because every time she had threatened to quit, Gabriel had personally convinced her to stay on.

That was just part of his charm- he found the best qualities in everybody. Apparently, he thought her habit of chucking the nearest heavy or sharp objects at him in a rage was endearing and he would miss it terribly if she left. Charlie didn't think that was the building block for a healthy relationship, but she was willing to accept it as it was.

Unfortunately for Ruby, she had a bad habit of picking on Anna and trash talking both Jess and Charlie every chance she had. Charlie squashed the small spark of pity, and proceeded to turn bitch-mode up to full blast.

"And do you have an appointment with Mr. Novak, the younger." She asked sweetly.

Ruby's nostrils flared, and her eye twitched. Charlie began to worry that the nervous breakdown was closer than she had first thought. She slowly moved her cup of sharpened pencils out of the woman's reach.

"You listen to me you flaming lesbo-" she began to grit out, but was immediately cut short by both Jess and Anna jumping to their feet in offense.

Charlie was flattered by their show of loyalty, however unneeded it was. She rose gracefully from her seat, smiling at Ruby, who was quickly realizing that she was outnumbered and on their turf.

Charlie smiled her brightest smile, holding eye-contact with the woman as she began backing up cautiously. "Mr. Novak, the younger, is having an important lunch meeting in his office. He is not available to waste his time helping you do your job. I suggest you run along, now, before Crowley realizes that he can upgrade from you, to a tracking collar, and save money."

Ruby's eyes slid angrily to each of the women. For a moment, she seemed as if she was going to speak.

Charlie cocked one eyebrow up, and stared down at her.

Ruby made a wise decision, and retreated with a condescending huff. Then proceeded to look like an idiot as she furiously pushed the elevator up button and waited for it to arrive.

As soon as the door finally shut behind her, Jess and Charlie erupted into laughter. Even Anna managed small chuckle.

As they were laughing and chatting about how ridiculous Ruby was, the phone at Charlie's desk began to ring.

She answered it, wiping a tear from her eye. "ADA Concept Management and Utilization Office, desk of Castiel Novak, how may I help you sir or ma'am?"

The two other women watched as Charlie frowned into the phone, then cast a nervous glance at Castiel's office door.

"Yes, Captain, I'll let him know immediately." She put down the phone with a pained grimace and made her way to the door. She knocked firmly and stuck her head in, "Um, boss. The Lawrence Police Captain just called. He says you need to come pick up your brother."

* * *

Next up: Where has Gabriel been hiding?

How pissed off is his secretary, Ruby?

Cas meets cat ladies.

And who is Jess's mystery man?


	5. Chapter 5-Cops and Cat Ladies

When Charlie had first told him that the police had his brother, he suspected that Gabriel was sobering up in the drunk tank.

So, after a rushed cab ride to his apartment to pick up his car and swap himself and the kitten into it, Castiel drove straight to the local police department.

After only a month in Lawrence, Castiel already knew the route and the best parking spots. He was also on first name terms with most of the police officers.

Walking into the main lobby, with the kitten in tow, he was greeted brightly by the duty officer.

"Castiel, I feel like it's been forever since you last dropped in." The attractive older brunette behind the counter smiled knowingly at Castiel.

Castiel frowned thoughfully, and nodded, "Yes, last weekend, wasn't it. A whole week is an impressive length of time by Gabriel's standards."

He watched as Sergeant Jody Mills laughed and then nodded to the kitten. "So, what's going on there?"

Castiel's frown deepened and he let out an exasperated sigh. "It's...complicated. Am I okay taking it back with me?"

Sergeant Mills gave him a motherly smile and nodded, then reached beside her. A loud buzz and click sounded, signaling the heavy metal door to his left was temporarily unlocked.

He thanked her and quickly passed through into the long hallway that led to the past offices and cubicle clusters, and ultimately to the officer entry-way to the temporary-housing cell block also known as 'Intake'. That was where the drunk tank was. It was a large open cell where they fit the arrested personnel together. It was designed to act as temporary detainment for non-violent or non-serious offenses- mainly drunks. The more serious criminal offenders were taken to the county jail.

The last time Castiel had arrived at the station to pick up Gabriel, he was leading his fellow drunks in a rousing chorus of 'Friends in Low Places'. Several of the officers were singing merrily along, as well.

As he carried the kitten down the hall, several officers and clerks called out greetings to him.

Castiel returned their greetings, and thought, not for the first time, that he was already better acquainted with the Lawrence Police staff than with his own co-workers at the ADA office.

The thought wasn't surprising. Most of Castiel's birthday parties and other celebrations growing up had featured a heavy police presence. It was practically impossible not to build friendships with the local officers when Gabriel treated the police department as his second home.

Castiel continued forward, making his way to the controlled door at the end with the large 'Intake' sign, which led to the holding and cell area.

He was stopped by a deep voice calling out to him from the Captain's office.

Looking over he saw the police captain, Rufus, beckoning him into his office.

As he entered, his eyes immediately fell upon his brother, shirtless, with his back turned toward the door. A tall, gangly officer was applying some sort of lotion onto several small, red markings on his back.

"Is that Cassie!?" Gabriel shouted gleefully from where he was seated facing away on the couch.

Castiel ignored him, and turned to Rufus, "I was expecting him to be locked up again."

Rufus, after an appraising glance at the kitten in Castiel's arms, let out a breathy chuckle before moving to take his seat behind the large wooden desk.

"Not this time. It seems your brother decided that he wanted to party with Officer Garth at three a.m. this morning. When Garth failed to answer his phone, Gabriel tried to let himself into his house through one of the windows at the back. Garth woke up to the noise of someone breaking into his house and went downstairs armed with his taser-"

"He tasered me Cassie! Can you believe that?" Gabriel pouted.

Officer Garth looked abashedly to Castiel and shrugged, "I think it was a good, practical lesson in taser usage. And breaking and entering." He nodded sagely to himself.

"I don't understand," Castiel stated in confusion, "If that happened early this morning, why is he just now being treated?"

"Oh, well," Garth began, "after I tased him, we both thought it would be really cool to watch Youtube videos of tasings- you know, for science. And, we figured, beer goes good with taser videos. Then, next thing we know, it's time for me to start sobering up for my afternoon shift. But, once the alcohol started wearing off, Gabe here really started to feel the sting from the prongs-"

"Wait," Castiel interrupted, looking at all three men as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You left the prongs stuck in Gabriel's back the entire morning while you drank and watched videos on the internet?"

"Hells yeah, we did!" Gabriel chirped excitedly exchanging a fist-bump with Garth.

Castiel looked to Rufus incredulously, as if he could find some sense in all this.

Rufus shrugged his shoulders and finally said, "I don't know what to say Castiel. The two of them just showed up about an hour ago at the on-call nurse station. Officer Garth and I are going to be having a very long discussion about proper tasering procedures," he continued, turning his stern glare on the thin man before returning to Castiel's, "But, I think we can count this as a small victory as far as Gabriel is concerned. This may be the first weekend since he moved here that he hasn't been arrested, hospitalized, or been found passed out, naked, in ditch, next to a burning liquor store, by the fire department."

"Whoot, whoot!" shouted Gabriel excitedly as he slowly began to don his damp and ragged shirt.

Castiel tried to appear calm as Rufus spoke, remembering the wreckage at Gabriel's country house, which apparently had gone unnoticed by the authorities so far.

Castiel sighed, "Thank you very much, Captain. I'll take my brother from here. I apologize for the inconvenience he has caused." Rufus grunted and waved him off, then turned to his computer to work.

Gabriel finally stood and turned from his position on the couch to beam up at Castiel, when he caught sight of the kitten. "Oh, Cassie! You shouldn't have- It's just what I always wanted!" He bounced over and made a grab for the furry creature, but Castiel acted quickly, dodging out of range.

"Absolutely not," he said infusing his voice with rare fierceness that allowed for no argument.

Gabriel put on his most betrayed look and drooped his shoulders. Castiel was not fooled.

"You can't even manage to take care of yourself without constant supervision. You are not capable of caring for kitten." He stepped out of the frame of the doorway, signaling with one hand for Gabriel to exit so they could leave.

Gabriel pouted and dragged his feet dramatically as he left the office. Castiel didn't bother feeling bad about treating his brother strictly- Gabriel always bounced back quickly.

Garth followed them out to the main lobby, where he said his good-byes.

"We're still on for the concert Friday, right Gabe?" he asked.

Gabriel's eyes immediately lit back up. "Abso-freakin-lutely! You said you have a ticket for Castiel, too, right?"

Castiel frowned, "Hold on. What are you two talking about?"

"Oh, so, it's going to be awesome!" Garth grinned widely, "Some friends of mine have this band, called Colt, and they do covers for all the greatest songs ever. They are performing at the Roadhouse downtown this Friday. I know the bar owner and the band members, so I have free tickets and a booth already reserved. Gabe already said you and him were down."

Castiel glared sharply over at his older brother, who was smiling and nodding at Garth's words. "I don't think I'll be able to make it, Garth. Sorry. This last weekend was…rough." He glared harder at his oblivious brother. "I don't plan on partying again for-"

Gabriel spoke up at this point, pushing Castiel toward the doors, "You just save those spots for us, buddy. We'll be there!"

Castiel barely managed to wave a hurried good-bye to Garth, and Sergeant Mills behind the counter, before he found himself back outside in front of the police department.

Castiel immediately rounded on his brother, "Do you have any idea the amount of problems you have caused people today? Whole office floors are either missing or called in sick. I woke up in some bushes in one of your backyards. The place looked like a bomb had gone off. Bodies were everywhere."

Gabriel had the nerve to chuckle like it was the most amusing thing ever. "Yeah, things got a little crazy after we hit up the Russian bar Saturday night. It's a good thing you have such a steady poker face when you're wasted." He patted Castiel's shoulder and continued to chuckle as he reminisced.

"This is not a joke, Gabriel." Castiel interrupted, "I wrecked the President's car this morning trying to get it back before he noticed."

Gabriel's face immediately turned serious, and he cast panicked eyes over his little brother, searching for signs of injury. "Were you hurt? How bad was it?"

Castiel let out a deep sigh. "I'm fine Gabriel. And I got the car repaired and returned before lunch ended. I think we are in the clear."

He intentionally hedged around mentioning the Auto Shop, or 'super-sexy mechanic, Dean'. The very last thing Castiel needed in his life was for Gabriel to try his hand yet again at match-making. Especially when the intended subject was not even gay.

Gabriel never really grasped the concept of mono-sexuality. He was under the misconception that his beloved little brother was capable of turning any strictly straight man gay just by dent of being 'Castiel'. It had led to many awkward and uncomfortable introductions and surprise dates. They had never ended well.

Luckily, Gabriel had not caught on that Castiel had left off the details of the repair. Instead, he had focused on his little brother's wreck. "What the hell happened? Why would you even bother trying to return McDouche-bag's car anyway?" Gabriel appeared to be genuinely upset that Castiel had been nearly hurt.

"It was fine. The weather was bad, and this little fuzzball decided to play a real-life game of Frogger," Castiel muttered quickly, gesturing to the kitten in his hands, as they headed for his car.

Gabriel directed his super-protective older brother Death Glare at the squirming kitten, who was unfazed.

Castiel tried to change the subject as they reached his car and got in. "I'm taking you straight in to work. Charlie mentioned earlier that Ruby has been trying to locate you all morning."

"Oh, don't worry about Rube. I've been texting her to let her know I'm fine. See-" He grinned proudly and passed Castiel his cell phone while he buckled himself in and tried to arrange the kitten, who was very unhappy about being handed to Gabriel, onto the floorboards.

Castiel took the proffered phone intending to glance quickly, just to appease his brother.

He read a few lines, then groaned loudly, "God, Gabriel. Why do you do this to her." He grimaced and read the series of messages starting at Eight-fifteen that morning.

_0815 R: Sir, you are late. You have a meeting to be at in forty-five minutes. Call me._

_0850 R: Sir, this meeting is very important. Call me ASAP._

_0910 R: The meeting had to be cancelled. Almost everyone is out sick. Where are you?_

_0951 R: This is not funny. Call me. Now. People are looking for you._

_1018 R: You better be stuck face-first in a toilet. I'm heading to your apartment now._

_1042 R: I know you aren't at your apartment. I'm heading to the country house next. If I find you passed out drunk, you're dead. Sir._

_1119 R: What the HELL were you doing this weekend!? I swear to God if you don't call me I will hunt you down and end you!_

_1147 G: : D_

_1148 R: Are you fucking serious!? Tell me where you are._

_1203 G: lets play hide n seek_

_1204 R: You stupid little spoiled shit! Where are you?!_

_1221 G: first clue- i am not at the office_

_1222 R: NO SHIT! When I find you, you won't be in the land of the living!_

_1238 G: Clue 2- i am with a friend ; )_

_1244 R: The strip club says you haven't been there. Stop fucking around! Get your ass in to work!_

_1309 G: Clue 3- maybe cassie knows ?_

_1324 R: Your brother's bitchy secretaries wont let me in to talk to him. Is this some stupid group prank? TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE._

Castiel passed the phone back to a grinning Gabriel silently.

Maybe taking him back to the office where Ruby was waiting wasn't the best idea. But then, Gabriel deserved whatever he got for goading the poor woman.

Even if what he 'got' was a high heeled shoe through his chest….

…-^o^-…

Castiel dropped Gabriel off at the front of the building at two thirty-five.

He decided that his day had gone on long enough and opted to call Charlie from the parking lot to check his schedule. After she confirmed that he had no meeting or Think Tanks to host that afternoon, he let her know that he was taking off the rest of the day. She sounded sympathetic when she told him to get some rest.

Unfortunately, Castiel still had to drop the kitten off at the Cat Rescue before his horrible day could end.

A short while later, he pulled up outside the large complex and headed inside with the small wiggling bundle in tow.

The moment he opened the front door, he was struck by a wave of stench. It was a mixture of wet fur, feces, and urine. He almost gagged and his eyes began to water. The kitten visibly cringed and burrowed deeply into his arms, only the smallest portion of its head kept up, observing the scene.

Castiel wasn't greeted by anyone, but he could here the sounds of several groups of voices rising and falling from various rooms and offices down the long hallway. He headed in that direction until he came upon a medium sized room enclosed with a metal screen door. Inside he could see multiple large kennels stacked up and alongside each other. A few large cats lay around on the floor. A heavy-set older woman was speaking loudly to three other women.

One of them noticed Castiel at the door. "Oh, hello there," She called out. "Come on in."

Castiel hesitated, before slowly opening the metal screen door and entering the room. All four women stared at him critically. It was an unusual kind of stare for Castiel. He was used to many looks from people: appraising, sexy, condescending, pitying.

These women, with undecorated, worn-out faces wearing plain blue jeans and fur covered bright sweaters, looked at him like his fine clothes and expensive shoes were worth absolutely nothing. He felt like they had seen many men in their time, and had been disappointed by most of them. They were looking into his soul and judging him by his character alone.

All Castiel could manage to do was wait for them to pass their judgement.

Their eyes quickly picked up on the small black ball of fur peaking out from his arms. Unlike most people's reaction today, they seemed neither surprised nor impressed by his cargo.

Finally, the loud one who had been speaking when he arrived, stepped forward. "I'm Debbie, one of the managers here. What can I do for you?"

Castiel wasn't sure if he passed these women's initial test, but he forced himself to speak up, "I need to drop this kitten off. It was running around in traffic on the highway."

The woman, Debbie, frowned, but nodded her head slowly, "Let's take a look." She abruptly pulled the small kitten from Castiel's arms and held it up where she could inspect it. The kitten immediately started mewling in offense. Two of the other women moved over to look at the kitten, too. "Well, it's a boy. About eleven-weeks old. Not fixed. We can check it real quick for a chip." She walked over to a messy desk in the back, where a large yellow cat was resting on a stack of papers, and pulled a small machine from a drawer. She turned it on and held it to the struggling kitten. She tsk'd and set the device down. "Nope, no chip."

The other women all sighed and muttered. Castiel felt like he was missing something important, but he was having enough difficulty following what the the woman was saying as it was.

Debbie turned back to him and asked with no hesitation, "Do you want him?"

Castiel was so taken aback by the blunt question that he didn't know what to say at first. "Um, no thank you. I just wanted to drop him off with you all so he could, um, be adopted to a nice family…?" He finished weakly.

Debbie's frown grew and she re-assessed the small kitten. Finally, she turned to the other women and began speaking, "It's gonna be tough. He's already pretty old, and feral it looks like. No shots, and he needs to be fixed." The other women nodded and hummed agreements.

One of the ones near the desk spoke, "Maybe Susan will take him? She only has twelve at her house right now, plus the two older ones."

"No," another woman spoke, "She is supposed to get another two litters in a week or two from Tori. And I think Janet and Sally are full, too."

Debbie turned back to Castiel suddenly, "How about fostering? Do you think you could manage that?"

Castiel stared blankly.

"All you have to do," she said patiently, "Is take care of it, and bring it in to adoption events at the local pet store on Saturdays. It's very easy."

"I…I have never had a cat before. I don't really want one. I just wanted to drop him off. Is there a problem with just leaving him here?" He was desperate to get out of the foul smelling store. The cats in the kennel next to where he stood were staring depressedly out. Castiel felt extremely uncomfortable.

Debbie sighed again, shrugging her shoulders widely, causing the small kitten to mew louder. Then she passed if off to one of the women, telling her to start the shots, do a de-worming and schedule for the vet to get him fixed.

The kitten was carried away. Castiel heard the mewling continue down the hall and into one of the nearby rooms.

He stood awkwardly, not sure if he had permission to leave yet. Did he need to sign anything? Debbie and the other women began shuffling through paperwork on the desk.

He heard as the kitten began mewling louder and suddenly hissing from the other room.

"Was there anything else you need me to do?" Castiel asked uncomfortably.

_Meow. Meeeooow. Hiiiisssss. Meeoooooow. Meeow._

Debbie looked up and stated quickly, "No, we'll see what foster homes are available for him right now and try to get him into one. We can't keep cats in the Rescue long-term, only shelters can do that. But, we don't really have a place for him right now."

_Meeeow. Meeeooow. Hiiissssss._

"Plus, with his age it is harder to get him adopted. Most families want really young kittens."

_Meeoowww. Meeooow. Squeeeek! MEEEOOOOWWW._

"Plus, he's a black cat, and those are particularly hard too adopt out. You know, superstitions." Debbie gave a quick gesture to the kennels, where Castiel realized two of the adult cats of the three in the occupied kennels were black. "We've had those since they were kittens."

_Meeoow. Meeeeeeoooooow. Meeeooooowww._

One of the large black cats met Castiel's eye. The animal looked like it had lost it's will to live.

_Meeooow. Meeoooow._

Castiel sighed. "Um, Debbie, could you explain the fostering process again, please."

…-^o^-…

Castiel left the rescue loaded up with a carrier, cans and a bag of cat food, kitty litter, a litter box, a gift bag of cat toys, instruction guides for cat-proofing and fostering, and, of course, his new foster-kitten.

He couldn't wait for this day to finally end.

…-^o^-…

Charlie placed the phone back on the receiver and turned to the other secretaries. "Looks like my boss-man is calling it an early day. You two didn't even have your bosses make it in at all today, huh?" Jess and Anna smiled and shook their heads. "Well, you know what that means- let's shut this operation down early! Whoooh!"

Jess was already up and collecting her things excitedly. Anna rose slower, and began packing her purse up.

Charlie shut her computer down, then turned to the others. "Well, do either of you have anything exciting going on tonight?" Anna shook her head and looked down in embarrassment, but Jess smiled broadly and started talking excitedly.

"I'm cooking my boyfriend dinner at my place again tonight! The last time was so sweet. We just ate and cuddled on the couch to watch movies afterwards. Tonight is going to be Star Wars themed."

"That sounds fun," Charlie grinned at her, "Have you met his family yet? It seems like you two eat at your house every time."

Jess's smile faltered, and Charlie panicked that she must have hit a sensitive subject, and immediately began backtracking, "I mean, it's totally fine to eat at your house. You're an awesome cook! I love when you bring in treats for us. He's super-lucky to have you cook for him all the time!"

Jess smiled weakly, then finally leaned closer to the other two women and said slowly, "Actually, he hasn't really told his family about me yet- at least, not his brother." Anna frowned sadly and Charlie looked surprised. "His brother, is, um, having a rough few months. He apparently proposed to his girlfriend in front of everyone, and she walked out on him." The women both cringed with pity.

"I guess that would be pretty tough to deal with," Charlie pursed her lips in thought, "So, your boyfriend is keeping your relationship a secret so his brother has time to cope? That's…sweet, I guess. But, not really fair for you."

Jess smiled gratefully at the observation, "It's totally fine. They are really close, plus their parents are living in Tennessee, so they are the only family they have around here. But I have had a chance to meet some of his friends. Oh!" Jess shouted excitedly, "I almost forgot to tell you both. So, my boyfriend and his brother and another friend have a band. They are going to be playing this Friday. I have free tickets that I wanted to offer you."

Charlie waved her hand to pass apologetically, "Sorry, sweetie. I already have a sexy date lined up for Friday evening. But, Anna, you should totally go!"

Anna looked wide-eyed back and forth at the two smiling women. "I, I'm not really good at concerts and stuff," she muttered nervously.

Charlie took this opportunity as a god-send. This would be the perfect chance for Anna to get out and meet other guys so she wouldn't be obsessing over Castiel and his 'forbidden fruit' for the rest of her life. It was perfect.

"You have to go," she almost shouted, startling the other two women. "I mean, it would be nice to change things up a bit. Plus, you can give me the scoop on Jess's boyfriend. I want to know if it's just her love-struck eyes that are painting him out to be Mr. Perfect." She raised her eyebrows and winked at Anna. Jess giggled.

Faced with Charlie and Jess's pleading, Anna finally agreed to attend.

Suddenly, they heard the faint sound of shattering glass and looked over just in time to see a potted plant and the sparkle of broken window pane falling past the office window outside.

"Oh," Charlie observed aloud as the women carried their things with them to the elevator to leave. "I guess Ruby found Gabriel."

* * *

Next up: Ash does impressions!

What was Dean's first impression of Castiel?

Sam discovers something new about his brother.


	6. Chapter 6-Nosy Brothers

"I'm telling you, Sam, there were some seriously intense looks exchanged." Ash took a swig from his beer.

Sam looked from Ash, to Benny, who shrugged.

Jo, Ellen, and Bobby listened on with interest. All of them were sitting at the front bar of the Road House together. Dean was due to show up any minute after stopping at home to shower and change.

As soon as the others had arrived, Ash had gathered them together into a tight group to go over Dean's behavior throughout the day.

Sam had been expecting a report about Dean being his usual self, denying his feelings and pretending that he was fine. Trying to maintain his macho-male persona. He had sure seemed to be heading that way this morning, when Sam had been forced to leave him to get to class.

Instead, Ash was regaling the group with the events at lunch today.

"Seriously, the dude, Castiel, had it bad. He was all, 'Daaammmmnnn'. I thought he was going to spontaneously combust with how hard he was blushing. And Dean was all, 'Come on, Bobby, compliment me in front of him. Say I'm cool'. But, this Castiel-guy was too shy to even look at him. Then, he finally does, and his face was all like, 'Oh, shit. Run aawwwwaaaaayyyy!' The group all cracked up at Ash's comical description of the scene. Even Bobby tried to cover a chuckle by taking a deep drink from his mug.

Sam, however, was completely unconvinced. "Come on, Ash. No way Dean was hot for a guy. He's a hundred percent straight. I don't think he's ever even thought about guys that way. He's been hooked on chicks since he could tell the difference."

"I'm just saying, Sam, his attitude did a complete 180 after that dude dropped by. He couldn't pull his eyes off of him. Of course, I wasn't unaffected either. Guy comes in looking like he just had a drunken pillow fight party with an entire sorority, it's hard not to let your mind fall into the gutter."

Sam snorted along with everyone else, but frowned. He looked at Benny and Bobby and asked, "Ash is just exaggerating, right? Dean wasn't seriously making bedroom eyes at some random guy in a suit?"

Bobby quickly pulled his mug up for an extended swig and pointedly looked away. Benny was forced to answer him. "I...can't really say, Sam. I mean, I didn't really notice anything myself at the time. I mean, I wasn't looking for it, that's for sure. But, Dean did get mighty chipper after that. And he did mention the guy a few times this afternoon. Just simple stuff, like 'Whatd'ya reckon his story was' and 'I wonder if managed to pull off sneakin' the car back in'. You know- nothing about deciding he was suddenly gay."

"Trust me, guys. Dean's a little thick- no offense Sam- but there were definitely some sparks flying." Ash wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sam glanced down at the bar, thinking hard. No way Dean, his super-horny, chick-chasing brother, was gay. He had never said or done anything to make Sam think that. It had always been women. Could Dean really suddenly turn gay over some hot rich guy he had seen for maybe ten minutes, tops? It just didn't seem possible. Maybe Ash and the others were just reading him wrong. Dean probably just thought the guy was interesting for a rich dude, and he wanted to size him up as a possible friend.

Jo spoke up from behind the bar where she stood with Ellen. The bar was owned by Ellen, and Jo, her daughter, was a waitress and bartender. The group of friends had grown up together, with the exception of Ash, often hanging out at the bar just like this. It seemed like they were more family than close friends. Sam and Dean knew these people- and they knew Sam and Dean. If they thought it was possible that Dean could like a guy…."

Sam was pulled from his thoughts when he heard what Jo was asking. "What was so hot about this guy anyway?" She asked with a skeptical laugh, " I mean, Dean is pretty superficial when it comes to the women he dates. Lisa was smoking hot. The chicks Dean dates always are. This guy would have to be, like, 'sex on fire' to make Dean start batting for the other team." She finished, leaning in eagerly, an excited grin on her face.

Ash didn't miss a beat, "Oh, let me tell you, little lady. Picture tall and lean, perfectly sculpted cheekbones, heavy brow, bright blue eyes, and dark, ruffled hair. He could've stepped straight out of a modeling advertisement." Ash paused thoughtfully, "Or a high-end porn."

Jo squeeled, and Ellen pointed out, "Ash, are you sure the sparks were coming from Dean and not you?" Everyone laughed, even Sam.

Ash just shrugged his shoulders, and chuckled, "If the dude had looked at me like he did Dean, I wouldn't be here having this conversation with you guys right now." He winked theatrically. The group laughed again.

Ash was well-known for not being picky about his relationships. Guys or girls, good-looking or not, Ash was a firm believer in equal opportunity. And despite his redneck appearance and laid back attitude, he was actually considered quite the catch.

Of course, with a Masters in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from MIT at the tender age of 28, he really was an unexpected catch. It was anybody's guess why he slummed it in Lawrence, Kansas.

He had just showed up in the Road House one day, passed out on the pool table, woke up when Ellen doused a pitcher of water on him, and asked to apply for a job at the Bobby's Auto Shop. With his credentials, Bobby couldn't exactly say no. And from then on, he had fit in with the group like he had always been there.

…-^o^-…

Dean stopped for a moment outside the entrance to the Road House to put his game face on. He knew as soon as he walked in that he would be closely scrutinized for signs of weakness. Sammy was even going to be there for a while, before heading out for some kind of late night tutoring session or something, again. He had been spending a lot more time than usual working late at the library.

What surprised Dean was that he actually was feeling relatively okay.

He still felt a hollow sense of shame and failure whenever he thought about Lisa, but it was dulled. Almost like he had always been preparing himself for losing her. In a way, he figured he had. That was why he was so hesitant to get close to her. Because he never really expected her to stay. Even when she had repeatedly told him she would.

They never stayed- his girlfriends. Dean just wasn't able to give them what they wanted. Love. Commitment. It was like he knew what the words meant, but had no ability to apply them in real-life

He took a deep breath to pull himself back to the moment. He needed to keep himself together. He could talk to them about anything except Lisa. Luckily, he already had a perfect distraction topic.

Castiel, the hard-partying businessman.

There was an endless supply of hypothetical scenarios they could run through about the guy. And Benny or Ash could hold up a big part of the conversation with him. That would kill at least an hour, then Dean could make a legitimate escape.

Psyching himself up, he pulled open the door and entered.

Everyone was in the usual spot, joking and drinking by the bar counter. He strolled over smiling, and greeted them. Ellen passed him beer as soon as he was seated.

"Yo, Dean. I was just telling these guys about our customer from lunch. You remember, Cameron or something..."

"Castiel," Dean corrected quickly, pronouncing the name in three syllables. He missed the looks that the group exchanged around him. "Yeah man, you beat me to it. I was totally going to to tell them about him. That guy was a trip, huh?"

"Yeah, I was trying to describe him for Jo. She heard he was rich and immediately had to know if he was hot. I said he was pretty okay-looking. Kinda scruffy with brown eyes." Ash continued innocently.

"Blue, dude," He turned to face Jo directly as he corrected Ash. "He had these super-bright, blue eyes."

Jo didn't miss her cue. "Hmmm," She muttered, "I can't picture some stuffy businessman in a suit as hot. He probably had pasty skin and slicked down, oily hair, huh?"

"What? No, way. This dude was young, like around our age. His skin was kind of pale, I guess, but it looked okay with his dark hair and blue eyes. You would have been drooling, trust me." Dean finished his statement and tilted his beer back for a long drag.

Jo barely held in a strangled giggle. The rest of the group took drinks as well to cover their wide grins, exchanging another round of looks with each other.

Sam, who had been studying his brother closely, slowly began to crack the beginning of a smirk. _Holy shit,_ he thought to himself, _Dean had all but called the guy hot. Maybe Ash really was on to something here._

"Ash was saying he seemed like an oddball." Sam suggested.

Dean frowned at Ash, then turned to Sam and shrugged, "I don't think so. I mean, yeah, he seemed like he may have partied way too hard, but I think it was mostly just nerves about the wreck and the cat. You told them about all that, right?" He turned, laughing, toward Ash and Benny for their confirmation. They nodded tight-lipped, seemingly concentrating hard on the labels of their beers.

Dean returned to face his brother, "It was crazy, man. You would've like him. Benny tried to joke with him about coyotes eating the kitten if it had escaped, and the dude gave him this super-intense look, like he couldn't figure out if it was actually a joke or not." Dean laughed again, remembering.

Sam chuckled along with him while the rest of the group watched and smirked knowingly. _Yeah_, Sam thought, _Ash was definitely onto something here._

After a few more minutes, Sam ducked out mumbling about a study session, and the conversation turned to the concert Friday night. Dean finally called it a night a few hours later, proud of himself for keeping up his unaffected demeanor.

_Lisa, who?_ He thought to himself smugly.

…-^o^-…

"You seem distracted," Jess pointed out she caught Sam staring out into space for the third time that evening.

"Huh? Oh, no. It's nothing really." Sam stuttered. Jess gave him a skeptical smile. "It's just, I was thinking about my brother."

"Dean? Are you still worried about him getting upset over his ex? Jo was saying he took it pretty hard when she left him." She smiled encouragingly as she snuggled up next to him on the sofa.

"Actually, no. He seems to have managed to handle her engagement pretty well actually." He drifted off in thought again, a strange smile on his face.

"So, what are you thinking about then? Oh! Are you thinking I can stop being your dirty little secret now?" She threw her arms up and around his neck, leaning in for a deep kiss.

When they finally pulled apart slowly, Sam was smiling. "Yeah, I think he can handle it. Maybe I can introduce you two after the concert Friday." He kissed her again.

"But, what I was thinking about was actually something else." He muttered.

Jess raised her eyebrows, "Oh, yeah? And what would that be?" She leaned closer into the crook of his arm.

Sam hesitated. He and Jess had clicked immediately upon meeting. It felt like they had always been meant for each other. He felt comfortable enough to discuss his brother's personal life with her. This was no different.

"Ash seems pretty convinced that Dean took a romantic interest in a customer at the shop today." Sam stated slowly.

Jess turned to look up at him, and said carefully, "Okay. That's kind of fast, but not a bad thing, right?"

"Well... it was a guy." Sam waited, watching Jess's face as the information clicked.

Suddenly, her face split into a huge, wide-eyed grin. "And you think maybe Ash is right? Dean may have a gay-crush?"

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "Yeah. I mean at first I was positive that Ash was just bull-shitting. But then Dean showed up and...just-" Sam paused smiling, "It was the way Dean was describing him. And he had this ridiculous smile on his face. I don't know. He practically never smiles like that."

Jess leaned in again for another quick kiss, before settling in with the remote control. "Don't you worry, Babe. Let me meet him on Friday. I have a pretty good sense for these things. I'm almost positive one of the new boss's at my office is gay. I can just tell, you know. I'll see what I can gleam from your brother."

Sam smiled and nuzzled his face into her hair. She smelled like soap and flowers. He tightened his hug around her as she hit the play button. The Star Wars opening music began playing as they leaned warmly into each other.

* * *

Next up: What is Castiel's job? Being awesome, apparently.

Gabriel enlists help to get Castiel out of his apartment and back into the dating game.

A shadowy figure watches from afar.


	7. Chapter 7-Think Tank Tango

I had an absolute blast writing this chapter.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The rest of Castiel's week had played out with few real surprises. He had managed to settle the kitten into his apartment after ensuring that there were no dangers for him. The kitten had been intimidated at first, hiding under the entertainment system for nearly a full day. But, curiosity had gotten the better of it. By Wednesday evening, he was running excited laps around the spacious rooms and reclining by the large floor-to-ceiling windows that over-looked a portion of the city. Castiel was on the fourth floor, but he had a great view because there were not too many tall buildings in Lawrence with the exception of the ADA structure.

Thursday morning, Castiel arrived in at eight a.m. Charlie had just arrived as well, and they were settling in to their normal routine as the rest of the ninth floor filed in slowly.

Castiel had six messages on his work phone, and nearly triple that in texts and messages on his personal phone, all from Gabriel. He was insistent that Castiel join him and Garth at the concert on Friday. Castiel's resolve was wavering, but he held strong. Gabriel was saying it would just be a small concert and a few drinks, but Castiel knew better. The night would suddenly take a crazy turn and he would end up desperately trying to do damage control for whatever mess Gabriel made.

A knock at the door pulled his attention back.

"Boss, President Crowley is on line one for you," Charlie said carefully.

Castiel nodded and took the call, "Mr. Novak speaking. How may I help you sir?"

On the other end of the line, the scottish accent filtered through in its usual lazy tone. "Castiel. I have a little tasker for you. The Research and Development Team #4 on the third floor has failed to meet their deadlines for a new media product. Handle it, would you?"

Castiel barely had time to assent when he heard a click as the line cut out. President Crowley was notorious for being an obnoxious ass. Plus, after dealing with Gabriel-who technically out ranked him as Senior Executive- he had developed a keen dislike of the Novak brothers. Castiel had noticed it immediately upon his arrival, and had been doing his best to overcome the stereotype his older brother was perpetrating for him. It was a problem that had plagued Castiel at all his jobs.

This time, however, Crowley's attitude didn't even faze him. A smile was already growing on his face.

Castiel stepped out of the office and approached Charlie's desk where she was losing a battle with a smile. Before he could speak she beat him to it, "Is it 'Go Time', boss?"

Castiel watched her enthusiasm with a growing smile of his own, and nodded. "You know what to do. R&D team #4. Let's make it One p.m."

"Oooh! Can we synchronize our watches?" Castiel looked at her perplexed, but decided to let her have her fun.

"Sure, Charlie. Just make sure everything is ready to go."

"Aye, aye, Sir!" She responded loudly, and hopped up to make the preparations. Anna and Jess watched the exchange from their desks in amusement. It was so rare to see Castiel genuinely excited. He took on a whole new persona, seeming to radiate power and authority.

Anna was gone on the intoxication of the combo.

Even Jess had difficulty pulling her eyes away from this confident side of Castiel.

…-^o^-…

There were few things in life that really compared to sex according to Castiel. Most of them were food related, and a few involved traveling to places where humans rarely set foot.

But Think Tanks were absolutely the closest in his opinion. As the Think Tank Manager, Castiel was responsible for arranging and coordinating the enclosed environment that would contain the group of people that were tasked with solving problems. The problems could be anything, from agreeing on a time for a product roll out, to re-designing an established product from the ground up. Any time that consensus or ideas were slow in coming, a Think Tank was set up. And Castiel had earned himself the reputation for running the most successful Think Tanks in the entire ADA company, all branches and locations included.

It was one of only two places in the world that acted as his small piece of controlled universe where he thrived naturally on his skills and enthusiasm.

The other was the bedroom.

And, in those three years when he had pronounced himself celibate, and refused to engage in sex, Think Tanks had been his go-to source of primal release. It had been in those three years that he had earned his reputation and proven his indispensability to the company.

Now, as Charlie sent him the data of this Think Tank goals, and the profiles of the personnel he would be responsible for developing, he felt the familiar quickening of his pulse and a headiness overtaking him.

He needed this. He needed a solid substitute for sex. Needed a distraction to pull his mind from the urges accosting his body. Needed a new direction to look.

Because over the last few days, his mind had been stuck on repeat in the worst way. Green eyes snuck up in his mind when he least expected them. Took advantage of his weak moments to sear their image into his brain.

The image of the mechanic, Dean, had been crawling through his dreams, and popping up in his mind unexpectedly.

Castiel had fought back the insidious urges to pull the image to the forefront and use it, each time he was in the shower, at night waiting to fall asleep, always the need was there.

Was it possible to be sexually haunted by a living person? Dean's ghost seemed to encourage Castiel to make use of him.

Castiel had been surviving on cold showers and sleep medication. He had never wanted to get off to fantasizing about a stranger so desperately in his life. And had never been more strongly resolved not to give in before, either.

If he gave in now, with the gorgeous mechanic as his model, he would be more ashamed than ever. Hardly a month, and Castiel couldn't contain his sexual urges. Only a few days, and he was practically dream-molesting a friendly green-eyed stranger.

Yes, a Think Tank was exactly what Castiel needed.

And God save the poor bastards of R&D Team #4.

…-^o^-…

Castiel sat quietly in the back corner of the meeting room. The ninth floor conference room had been specially adapted to meet the requirements of a Think Tank.

There were no windows. There was an attached co-ed restroom on the inside- also with no windows. Or toilet seat covers, for that matter. Comfort encouraged staying, and staying wasted time. There was only one access point into the room,the door, which deadbolted from the outside.

Only a specific knock known only by Castiel and Charlie would authorize the door to be opened.

Charlie had done a fantastic job setting up the room to Castiel's specifications. The blank walls were covered with dozens of large, empty whiteboards. Brand new dry erase markers were sitting everywhere. New notepads with several packs of ball point black pens were placed neatly in front of each chair. A large and varied assortment of fresh fruit, snacks and water were centered along the middle of the rectangular table. There was one computer in the room. It had an extremely restricted internet connection that blocked any sites that were deemed unnecessary for research. Or could signal for police rescue.

It was time.

Castiel breathed deeply, body thrumming with excitement. The elevator dinged down the hall, and he heard the thudding of feet and low rumble of voices, and Charlie's sweetest voice leading them to the room.

The group entered. There were nine. Castiel had memorized their employee profiles over lunch, searching for their strengths and weaknesses. Creating his plan of attack.

As the last one entered, Charlie released an overdramatic maniacal chuckle as she shut the door firmly and threw the deadbolt into place with an ominous clank of heavy metal.

The group jumped and turned to look at the door. Their smiles dropped immediately, and several of them ran back to the door, testing it, only to confirm that they were definitely locked inside.

From his place in the corner, Castiel hit the small button on the light control device he held. Darkness fell. Several people screamed. He moved gracefully to the front of the room, navigating the dark effortlessly. He came to a stop in front of the space he knew contained the main dry erase board. With another click, a single spot light landed upon him casting a bright and eerie glow on his features. The room was absolutely silent. His body buzzed with purpose.

"You are all here today to serve a Glorious Purpose." He stated with a gentle rumble of his voice that practically boomed in the dark silence. "You have fallen from your exalted positions in R&D. Allowed your weaknesses to triumph, and have cast yourselves into the great pit of Failure." He lifted his head, eyes adjusting to the shadows to meet the terrified gazes of the shocked employees. He continued gently, smiling as he spoke, "But do not fear. I am here to raise you from Perdition."

…-^o^-…

It was nine fifty-three p.m.

Charlie was in the middle of a raid on her computer, the almost empty bag of snickers on her desk, next to three empty Mountain Dew bottles, a twizzlers wrapper, and various other sugar and caffeine filled containers. She was buzzed, and completely prepared for an all-nighter. Most of the Think Tanks were. She has sized up the R&D team as she led them to the conference room. They were like lambs going to the slaughter. Smiling, grumbling, discussing their shopping trips or golf games. The poor things had no idea what they were in for.

In the first few hours, she had heard the familiar sounds of banging, shouts for help, furniture being upended. Most of the ninth floor employees were used to the muffled sounds. They had went about their business and left at there regular times.

However, more recently the noises had died down.

She flipped through her computer screens every hour to check the progress. There were several hidden cameras and microphones in the room, tucked in seamlessly amongst the grated ventilation ducts and lighting fixtures. The first few hours were always the most interesting, but once the occupants accepted their fates, it became mostly boring technical talk.

She waited patiently for the secret knock indicating that the Think Tank had drawn to a successful conclusion. It may come soon, or it may not come until sometime late tomorrow.

Kansas laws prevented unlawful corporate detainment for longer than twenty-four hours. But, of course, the people locked inside didn't need to know that.

Charlie loved her job.

The hum and ding from the elevator caught her attention.

Gabriel strode out with a large smile and wave at Charlie as he walked over to her desk and helped himself to a Snickers.

"How's my baby brother getting on, Red?" Charlie grinned and pulled up the video of the room. Then she turned up the volume.

…-^o^-…

The cameras showed the room, with several people either standing or collapsed on the floor by the door. A few were leaning lifelessly across the table in their chairs. A quick scan of the boards and crumpled remains of notebook paper indicated that considerable progress had been made, but the attitudes of the rooms occupants suggested that the final solution was still far from completed.

"I already told you," Castiel was saying calmly, but with a steely force behind his words, "Your civil rights ended when you walked through that door. The only possible way out, is by completing the project."

"This is insane!" a heavy-set woman shrieked through her tears, "I have a family. My kids! Who is picking them up from school; feeding them supper?!"

"I wont ask again," a heavy set man shouted from where he was pacing in the corner, "Open that door, or, by God, we'll bust it down!"

A shout of nervous consensus erupted from the occupants.

Castiel sighed deeply, and spoke again, everyone hanging intently off his words, "I don't understand you all. Do you not want to be saved?" He looked up and met each of their eyes slowly before continuing. "Do you not think you are worthy of being saved? I am here, with you now, because the ADA thinks you are worthy. It has need of you and your skills. Each one of you." His eyes were wide and sincere, as if pleading for them to understand their own personal value.

A woman crouched by the left wall, sniffled, "I..I just want to go home…Please. I can't handle this-I'm, I'm just not strong enough!" She collapsed further into more sobs.

Castiel rose as the rest of the group looked on in terrified awe. He walked smoothly over to where she lay hunched, and knelt beside her. He gently reached out and lifted her chin, bringing her tear-stained eyes up to meet his.

"You are stronger than you realize Laura. Don't you see that in yourself?" Laura's bright eyes stared hopefully into Castiel's. He turned back to the other's, rising slowly, seeing the same tired but hopeful shine in theirs.

_Time to bring it home_, Castiel thought, gearing himself up for the big turning point.

"You all have great strength inside of you." His voice rose steadily as he spoke. "I have watched what you can do when you try- seen what great things you are capable of. You can do this. You can fight your way through the very pits of Hell!" He practically shouted the last part, his booming voice echoing like thunder through the room.

"Please- help us. Tell us how!" A man leaning weakly from his chair pleaded, and the rest of the room repeated his plea.

"Yes, help us."

"Teach us how to be better!"

"Please, we'll do our best. Show us how!"

Castiel smiled inwardly, _Got them._

Out loud he spoke softly, smiling gently at the desperate office workers. His voice a stark contrast to his last spoken words, "All you need is a little Faith."

…-^o^-…

Charlie and Gabriel watched the exchange with proud, beaming smiles.

"That's my little brother," Gabriel muttered, wiping away mock-tears, "a born leader."

Charlie nodded agreement, before saying, "If I weren't a hardcore lesbian, I would be on that like white on rice." She sighed heavily, gazing at the images. "Was there something you needed, Gabriel? It looks like this will be wrapping up in just a few more hours."

Gabriel frowned pathetically down at Charlie, clearly fishing for sympathy, "Cassie wont hang out with me tomorrow. I've been trying to talk him into it, but he just ignores me."

Charlie stared at him, completely unaffected. After a moment, she cocked one eyebrow, as if to say, 'Was there anything else'.

Gabriel pressed on, "I was hoping you could help me out, Red. I'm just trying to get Cassie out of his house. He's been so uptight since the whole 'Dick Fiasco'." Gabriel smirked to himself as he saw Charlie's eyes register confusion, then interest.

"Oh, you know about that, right?" Gabriel asked, knowing that she would be pulled over to his side by the tantalizing gossip. "Cassie practically fled from his last boyfriend- a really nasty breakup. Now, he has decided to lock himself up in an ivory tower of Chastity, never allowing handsome princes to scale his treacherous walls, and gaze upon his shining blue eyes, forever more." He thought maybe he was putting it on too thick, but a glance at Charlie revealed that she was hanging on to his every word. _Yikes._

He moved around to her side of the desk, kneeling before her and taking her hands, "You'll help him, right? Together, we can conquer the dragons, and, er, evil step-mothers, and-"

"Ring Wraiths?" Charlie suggested helpfully, still entranced.

"Yes, those pesky Ring Wraiths, too. We can beat them all, and get our Castiel his Handsome Prince. All you have to do, is convince him to go out with me tomorrow."

Charlie nodded her head enthusiastically, and stated, "Let's get our Damsel in Distress laid!"

Gabriel watched out of the corner of his eye as the monitor showed Castiel throwing a chair across the room, missing a cowering man by only a few feet.

_That's a LOT of sexual frustration, Gabriel thought to himself._

"Yes, our helpless damsel needs us, Charlie." Gabriel smiled brightly back at the woman.

_Piece of cake, he thought._

…-^o^-…

A strange rythmic knock sounded from the direction of the conference room around two a.m. Charlie jumped violently and scrambled to pause the episode of Doctor Who streaming on her computer.

When she opened the door, a parade of exhausted, but jubilant faces emerged, chatting excitedly to one another. They walked slowly to the elevator and left, still chatting cheerfully about their success as the elevator doors slid shut.

Charlie stepped inside the conference room, and noted Castiel sitting in a chair staring at the various whiteboards surrounding him, now filled with images and words.

"Was it another success, boss?" Charlie asked in the silence.

Castiel smiled and rubbed his hands over his eyes. He stood slowly, stretching his sore muscles, and made his way to the door where Charlie stepped to the side. "Fantastic, Charlie. It was absolutely fantastic." Then he left, walking to the elevator with the worn-out smile never leaving his face.

Castiel was sated. At least, for now.

_Dean who?_ He thought to himself as the elevator dinged.

…-^o^-…

In a darkened room on the basement level of the ADA headquarters in California, the image of Castiel smiling tiredly to himself in the elevator was pulled up on a large monitor.

From the shadows, behind the nervous looking security personnel, a small chuckle could be heard.

"Naomi," a deep voice said quietly to the woman standing attentively nearby.

"Yes, sir?" The woman replied respectfully.

"Where is Michael?" The voice asked quietly.

"He is at the Boston offices this week, sir." She replied.

"I think it's time." The voice rumbled.

The woman, Naomi, looked back at the screens. The main screen showed Castiel. Another screen showed the now empty conference room.

On yet another screen, Gabriel was sitting in his office, feet propped up on his expensive looking desk, playing a video game and chewing happily on five twizzlers at once.

Naomi turned back to the shadowy figure and nodded curtly. "I understand, sir. I'll begin making the arrangements." She left immediately.

The figure stood in shadows for a long time after she left. Watching in silence as Castiel passed through the lobby and headed to his car across the large parking lot and Gabriel dozed off, Twizzlers slipping from his mouth onto the floor.

They were completely oblivious to the chaos that was coming.

* * *

BOOM! Intro the rising action! I finally made it to the beginning of the upward slope of the story. I have some wonderful surprises in store for you all. Stay tuned!

Next up: Our boys meet again and Castiel has to pinch himself to make sure he isn't dreaming.

Dean evades a throng of horny women.

Sam gets dumbfounded.


	8. Chapter 8-What? He sings, too? FML

Enjoy!

* * *

The Road House was much bigger than expected. In Castiel's mind, it had been a small business fitting maybe fifty people max.

This building was apparently adapted from a medium-sized open bay garage. The interior was large and spacious, easily accommodating a hundred or so people. The unique thing about it, he noted, was that the back portion where the sliding metal garage door raised vertically, was opened, leading into an enormous lot filled with tables and chairs set up around a stage on risers.

The place was already filled by excited bodies talking loudly over the hum of background music from the speaker system.

Castiel and Gabriel made there way inside, Gabriel weaving through the crowd with the grace and speed all short people seem to be blessed with. Castiel was forced to inch his way forward roughly through the throng, repeatedly getting elbowed, bumped, and soaked by unaware people's drinks.

When he finally arrived at their reserved booth, he collapsed into it. Gabriel was already shouting a conversation to Garth and Sergeant Mills. Castiel took stock of their seating arrangement, and realized that despite being inside, away from the stage, they were actually high up, over the mass of people in the lot, with a perfect unobstructed view of the performance.

While Castiel observed the excited crowd, a young blond woman bounced over and sat a pitcher of beer and several glasses onto their table. She nodded and smiled to Garth and Jody, and gave Gabriel a wave in greeting.

As she turned to cast a quick glance and smile at Castiel, she did a double-take, her mouth dropping noticeably. Castiel, unsure how to handle the waitress's suddenly intense assessment tried to smile despite his discomfort. The young woman's frown of concentration slowly grew into an enormous, toothy grin as she raised a hand slowly to give him a slow wave, before snapping her head around to Garth.

Castiel was unable to hear what she asked over the roar of the crowd and the music, but he clearly made out Garth pointing at him and trying to yell his name slowly into the young woman ear.

If possible, her smile seemed to get wider. She nodded and sent Castiel one final stare, seeming to take in everything about him eagerly, before she turned and practically sprinted into the throng of people, her small skinny form instantly lost amongst the moving bodies.

Castiel watched her disappear with alarm. Unsure why she had seemed so surprised by him. He turned to check if anyone else at the booth had witnessed the strange behavior.

Garth and Gabriel were back to yelling to each other, and making large gestures with there hands, while Jody's attention was focused exclusively on her cell phone.

Castiel cast another worried look in the direction the woman had gone.

Suddenly the lights went out, and a series of strobes and flashes cut on. The sound of an electric guitar cut through the sudden hush, followed by drums. Spot lights flared to life, shining brightly onto the stage across the crowd. People burst out into loud cheers and whistles as the long intro of Blue Oyster Cult's 'Burnin for You' blared out. Suddenly, a guitarist who had been hanging out to the side slid to center stage and expertly sang the opening lyrics.

Home in the valley-

Home in the ci-ty

Home isn't pret-ty

Ain't no home for meeeeee!

The crowd lost its collective mind, many of the front-most audience rushing to stand directly beneath the stage.

Castiel sat frozen in place as his heart beating hard enough to escape from his chest. He could barely suck in enough air to breath. His eyes were locked onto the singer, taking in everything: from the tight-fitting worn blue jeans to the black ACDC shirt that was rising every few seconds to flash glimpses of firm, tan abs and a light trail of hair leading down into the top of the jeans.

A slow and hungry groan erupted from deep in Castiel's throat, thankfully lost amid the loud sounds from the crowd and music.

_Dean._

Castiel watched in paralyzed awe as the mechanic dipped his hips and and threw his head back, enthusiastically hitting the notes of the chorus line. A second singer, leaning in closely, nearly face to face with Dean managed to draw Castiel's attention briefly. This new man was almost a foot taller, with long brown hair and handsome features. Castiel felt a tense jolt of unexpected jealousy shoot through him as the two singers leaned into each other's sides, mouths only inches apart to hit the final lyrics of the chorus.

When they finally broke apart, Castiel released a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. Looking down, he found that his hands were clenched tightly on the edge of the table. He slowly relaxed them and pulled them away, trembling.

His eyes were pulled back to the twisting and shaking form on the stage.

_How was this possible, Castiel tried to think. He was a mechanic, for God's sakes. A sexy, grease splattered, sweaty-_

Dean suddenly spun around to face the drummer- Benny, Castiel now recognized- and the sight of Dean's rolling and dipping ass, cupped snuggly by the tight jeans, abruptly ended all of Castiel's brain functions.

…-^o^-…

Gabriel was thoroughly impressed by the surprisingly high quality of the concert, and the venue in general. After spending almost a year and a half in Lawrence, he was completely shocked to have overlooked such a interesting place.

Of course, when you owned two condos, a ranch, and three country homes all over the county, finding a location to have wild parties and drink alcohol was never really an issue.

Garth and many of the other officers had spoken highly of the Road House, and the local band 'Colt', but Gabriel had never took the time from his own wild weekends to branch out far enough to make it here.

It was a shame, too, he noted. The music was top notch. He wasn't into rock himself, per se, but Castiel had been a huge fan when he was younger. He had begged Gabriel to take him to concerts when he was a teenager, to watch all his favorite bands live.

Ok. So, he hadn't actually 'begged' Gabriel. All Castiel had really needed to do was mention that it would make him 'very happy' to go, then turn his hopeful blue eyes on his big brother. Gabriel would be making arrangement before Castiel could manage the first wide-eyed blink.

Gabriel smiled to himself, thinking back on how similar this concert was to the those past shows, or 'Brotherly Bonding Trips', as Gabriel cheerfully called them.

He cast a happy glance over to his brother now, sitting a few feet away, and froze.

Castiel was completely enraptured by the scene onstage. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were following the movements of the performers like he was hypnotized.

_Well, _Gabriel thought in genuine surprise,_ THAT is a look I haven't seen in a while._

He watched as Castiel's tongue dipped out quickly, licking his lips.

Gabriel turned his attention back to the stage, sizing up which piece of eye-candy had caught his little brother's eye.

_Hmm,_ he thought to himself, _the only two real lookers were the singing guitarists. So, was it 'Tall, Dark and Handsome', or the shorter light haired 'Adonis'? The taller one looked a bit closer in appearance to Castiel's ex, Dick. For all his personality flaws, Castiel had still maintained that Dick was a Looker._

He focused his attention between his captivated brother and the men onstage, looking for any indication of which man Castiel was undressing with his eyes.

As the song winded to a close, the taller man swung to the side of the stage to finish off his guitar riff, while the shorter man in the black shirt dropped enthusiastically onto his knees, taking the mike with him, crooning the ending lines with gusto.

Castiel lips pulled back into a full blown smile- teeth and everything, Gabriel observed in shock, jaw almost dropping from the sheer rarity of the event.

_Adonis, it is,_ he thought.

…-^o^-…

"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! You see him, right? The blue-eyed one near Jody?" Jo was practically hopping up and down, arm clutching her mother's tightly as she pointed in the direction of the booth.

"Yes, Honey, I can see him. Now would you let go of my arm so we can get back to work?" Ellen released a worn out sigh. Tonight was hectic enough without her daughter falling madly in love with a handsome customer again.

"That's 'him', Mom! Dean's man-crush from the shop on Monday!" She practically squealed the words over the loud music.

Ellen's attention immediately snapped back to the stranger at the table. After knowing Dean for most of his life, and helping Mary to raise the boy, she had always taken a near-motherly interest in his love life. It had bothered her the way he had burned through girlfriends. She had high hopes for Lisa, but realized fairly early that Dean wasn't genuinely in love with the woman. It had been terribly painful to watch the proposal.

So, when the group had discussed the details of Dean's smitten behavior over a random man on Monday, she had given the idea a considerable amount of thought. As much as Dean acted the part of skirt-chasing playboy, she knew that he wasn't finding whatever it was he needed in the various women he hooked up with.

Maybe there was the smallest of possibilities that the elusive connection that Dean was desperately looking for wasn't where he expected.

She peered closely at the dark-haired man in the distant booth, the flashing of bright colored lights crossing over him.

He was certainly attractive, just as Ash had described. But more importantly was the Look he was directing at the stage.

A girl could get pregnant from a look like that. Hell, Ellen felt a little flash of residual heat just from watching the man's eyes following Dean's movements.

She turned back to the drinks she was preparing, as Jo excitedly commented on how adorable the man was, and how it was a shame he was almost definitely gay. Ellen half-listened to her daughter, while thinking to herself.

Clearly the man was interested in Dean. But, would Dean be open to the idea of dating another man? Ellen tried to think of a time or situation when Dean had made a mention of his views on gay men. Ash had certainly been very up-front about his dating life around the group, but he had always kept the more intimate details to himself. Dean had seemed to take Ash's comments in stride, but never really said anything one way or the other about his feelings on the matter.

Ellen sighed to herself, frowning. She wanted Dean to be happy. The last few months had been hard to watch, for everyone. If there was even the slightest possibility that Dean had seen something he liked in this man, Castiel, then she was determined to see where it lead.

Even if it crashed and burned before it could really begin.

…-^o^-…

By the time the last song came to an end, Dean was exhausted. His body was buzzing from the adrenaline and he was coated in a thin sheen of salty sweat.

It felt great.

He, Sam and Benny stood at the front of the stage, thanking the screaming audience and taking their bows.

The lights were turned back on, illuminating the the back lot and the large interior of the bar room. Sam made a quick exit off stage, and Benny dashed off to greet someone at one of the tables.

That left Dean alone to fend off the overwhelming number of super-excited women crowding the front of the stage.

He forced himself to keep his smile planted as the women asked him questions like, 'Are you seeing anyone?', 'Do you have plans for tonight?', and 'Will you have a few drinks with us?'

Dean was accustomed to the attention. On most nights, he would bask in the compliments and flirt back. He would even consider taking one of his lovely fans home for private concert.

But, after the last several months his enthusiasm had hit a low he never would have thought possible. Once Lisa had fled, he had tried to compensate by hooking up with the random chicks that flocked to his shows and hung out around the Road House.

But, the thrill was gone now. The desperate pleading faces meant nothing to him. Their light caresses on his arms and chest, and the thick smell of their strong perfumes put him off.

He worked to keep his smile on as he chatted back, winking at the women and leaning in to chuckle at something they said. He was going to kill Sam and Benny for ditching him to these hungry crocodiles.

He raised his head, laughing at a joke a blond had just made, searching for the tall frame of his younger brother, hoping to make a quick escape by pretending he needed to go speak to him about something.

Instead, his eyes locked onto a wide pair of bright blue ones, for the second time that week.

The recognition was instantaneous for Dean.

_Castiel._

Dean was so startled by the unexpected shock of seeing the stranger again so soon, that he didn't realize that he was standing still, staring at the man and ignoring the flock of women clustered around him, until the man broke the eye contact and began sliding from his booth hurriedly.

_Wait-is he leaving?_ Dean thought with something close to panic.

Without bothering to say goodbye to the disappointed women, Dean bolted in the direction of the booth, eager to catch the man before he managed to run off on him again.

…-^o^-…

Castiel only made it about ten hurried steps from the booth, heading straight for an escape out the door, when a blond older woman suddenly appeared in his path, smiling.

"You must be one of Garth's friends," she stated, throwing a firm arm around his shoulder and turning him back towards the booth.

Castiel fought the growing alarm, worried that Dean was going to appear at any moment.

It had been a complete accident that Dean had caught him staring. Castiel had been engrossed in the show, eagerly counting the number of times he had caught a flash of belly button, or a wink into the audience. He had spent one entire song following the slow trek of a single glistening bead of sweat as it curved across the the sharp angles of Dean's face and cheekbones, and dipped past his neck to disappear under the dark shirt.

By the end of the show, Castiel was hot, dull pulses of lust rippling through his body almost every few seconds. He couldn't pull himself away.

He watched as Dean moved off the stage, into the excited mass of attractive women. Watched as he smiled, and grinned, winked, and laughed.

The women surrounding him were delighted by the handsome singer's attention, draping themselves onto his arms and leaning into his words. He seemed in his element, doting on the beautiful women and playing into their expectations.

_What would it feel like, _Castiel wondered with a desperate pang of longing,_ to lean onto Dean's arm, and have him whisper a breathy chuckle into his ear._

Then Dean had looked up, and instantly met Castiel's eyes.

They stared in mutual shock, almost as if Dean could read what Castiel had been thinking, and see how his body hummed with need.

_God,_ Castiel had thought with sudden terror,_ Could Dean tell how turned on he was?_

Castiel had reacted to his growing fear and rising lust the best way that he knew how.

He had fled.

Only to be abruptly stopped and turned back around by this mysterious woman with the friendly smile.

As she led him back to the table, his worst fears were realized. Dean suddenly appeared from the direction of the stage, a huge smile lighting up his features when he saw Castiel.

"Hey! I can't believe you're here." Dean smiled at Castiel. He turned his eyes to the woman who was still clasping Castiel's shoulder, almost as if she was intentionally preventing his escape.

"Ellen, you've met him already?" The woman, Ellen, shook her head and nodded to Garth and the rest of the booth who were watching the exchange with interest.

"Not yet. I was just coming over so Garth could introduce me to his friends." She stated.

Dean's head turned in surprise to Garth, "What? How do you know him?" Dean's confusion was evident, his eyes also now taking in Gabriel still seated, with a barely controlled smirk on his face as he watched.

Garth answered by introducing the two men. "Dean, Ellen, these are my friends Gabriel and his brother, Castiel. We know each other from my job." He turned to Dean and continued, "How do you know Castiel?"

Dean's confused face finally returned to a smile, "We met Monday at the Auto Shop. It's actually a really funny story. I'm surprised Benny or Ash haven't told you about it already."

From where he stood, Castiel felt a blush begin burning its way up his neck.

_So much for not making an impression,_ Castiel thought. _What did Dean and his friends think about him? From the way Dean was acting, it seemed like he was sincerely happy to see him again._

Castiel's attention was pulled back when Dean addressed him, grinning ear to ear, "You're going to stay for a while and have some drinks, right? Man, I have so many questions I've been dying to ask you."

The rest of the bar was emptying quickly, and the employees were beginning to clean-up. Castiel finally managed to pull his eyes up to meet Dean's, "It looks like this place is closing up for the night."

Dean immediately answered by turning to Ellen, "It's fine, right Ellen? We'll just sit over here and talk for a while."

"I think that would be great. I don't mind at all." Suddenly, Castiel felt a firm nudge from the woman's hand on his back, urging him back into the booth. "I'll get you all set up with some drinks, and you can take as much time as you want."

As she left, Jody slid herself out of the booth, stating that she had to be at work first thing in the morning, and giving Dean a quick hug and congratulations.

As she walked away, Dean slid himself into the booth and immediately leaned forward to face Castiel.

Castiel managed to remain calm, with the exception of small twitch to pull his hands in and away from Dean's body heat, his heart fluttering at the closeness.

"So, you gotta tell me, Cas. What the Hell did you get up to last weekend?" His bright smile and green eyes as he leaned to meet Castiel's eyes, were so open and excited that Castiel couldn't help but return his smile with one of his own.

"It's actually a pretty long story," Castiel began, as the traces of nervousness slowly began to leave him. It was difficult to remain nervous when Dean seemed so relaxed and interested.

…-^o^-…

"Are you absolutely sure, Jo?" Sam asked for the third time, his eyes glued on the group at the booth.

Sam, Jess, and Jo were huddled on the far side of the bar, watching as Dean laughed loudly along with Garth and the brown haired stranger, who Jess had told them was Castiel's older brother, Gabriel. They couldn't make out the words, but occasionally Gabriel would lean in to contribute something to what Castiel was saying, and the group would burst out laughing again.

"I'm positive. The man from the shop Monday was named Castiel. And Dean obviously recognizes him. It's definitely the same guy."

Sam turned his still incredulous eyes to Jess. "And you're saying he's the new boss at your office? The one you were pretty sure was gay?"

Jess just nodded her head silently as she watched the group, equally as surprised as Sam.

Sam turned his head back to the group at the booth, watching his brother closely.

He hadn't seen Dean smile so much in a long time. Even before the incident with Lisa. Dean was more of a solemn joker, a smart-ass even. He really only ever relaxed around Sam and their tight knit group.

Seeing him focus so much attention on the dark haired man across from him was completely out of character.

_Holy shit. Dean has a crush. On a dude._

_My brother is flirting with a dude._

As if to drive the fact home, Dean said something directly to Castiel, then turned his eyes down before glancing back up with a grin and raising his eyebrows.

Castiel, who had seemed to Sam to remain serious and stoic during most of the conversation, had finally broken down and cracked into an embarrassed grin, which he quickly tried to cover with his glass of beer. The rest of the group was practically in tears from laughing.

_Oh My God. That was the 'Look'. Dean just gave a guy his male-equivalent of a flirty 'hair toss'._

"Oh, shit," he managed to stutter out loud, his voice low,"My brother is gay."

Jo giggled, and Jess reached her hand across to pat his comfortingly, as she nodded, "Yep. He's got it bad."

A call from the kitchen pulled Jo away. She frowned, casting an eager eye back at the booth. "Call for me ASAP if they start making out." She grinned and winked before ducking away.

They watched Dean and Castiel talk for a while longer. Sam wasn't sure if he should be laughing at his brother finally falling hard for someone, or worried about how to bring the matter up. Did Dean even realize what he was feeling?

Shaking off his worried thoughts, he took Jess's hand into his own, and turned to her with a smile. "Well, I guess introducing you to my brother is going to go over a lot easier than we thought since you work with his crush."

Jess laughed happily and planted a kiss on his cheek. Together they made their way over to the booth to join the group.

* * *

And, there it is. Mechanic!Dean is also Singerinaband!Dean. And Castiel wasn't able to flee this time (Thank you, Ellen).

Next up: I'm wondering how Gabriel plans to help out his little brother.

And does Sam intend to confront Dean about his crush?

And what about the shadowy figure!? (Cue dramatic reverb).

Lots of excitement in store!


	9. Chapter 9-Look But Don't Touch

I think it's about time this Fic really earned that 'M' rating, don't you?

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel entered his apartment, and flung himself tiredly onto his couch. He lay there for several moments, head buzzing and body pulsing with the last thrums of excitement.

_Dean is absolutely perfect,_ he thought himself. _He couldn't even have the decency to be an over-confident jerk. No, he had to have a great personality, and sense of humor that was impossible to dislike. _

_Really, what the Hell? _

The kitten hopped onto Castiel's stomach and began rubbing its tiny head against his resting hand. Castiel chuckled warmly despite himself and began absent-mindedly rubbing the kitten as it purred happily.

…-^o^-….

He just spent hours chatting with Dean, Gabriel, Garth, and, as it turned out-Dean's brother Sam, and Jess.

That had been a surprise. At some point early on after the show, Jess had appeared next to their booth with the tall singer that Castiel had seen on stage with Dean.

After a quick explanation, it came to light that Sam was Dean's younger brother, and Jess's boyfriend. Castiel had immediately flashed back to the enormous box of chocolate that Jess had produced from her desk on Monday. So, this tall, handsome man was the reason for the chocolates and for Jess's habit of checking her phone constantly throughout the day. Well done, Jess, he thought.

Castiel smiled to himself, happy to know that Sam was actually related to Dean. The two men seemed to be very close, mocking and joking with each other throughout the night. It had put Castiel even more at ease to see their friendly banter, and have an opportunity to observe Dean in his natural environment.

Dean had spent the evening as the definition of hospitality and attentiveness. Every time Castiel spoke he would find Dean's bright green eyes focused on him and what he was saying. He never missed a single one of Castiel's subtle jokes, and even backed him up as he verbally reprimanded Gabriel for his antics.

Castiel felt like the only person Dean could see. And he greedily basked in the handsome man's attention.

And that was the problem. The evening had been like a separate world. A world where nothing else mattered but the warm glow of green eyes meeting his, and the deep chuckles erupting from soft looking lips.

It wasn't reality.

In reality, Dean was only listening to a mildly interesting story from an odd stranger. His friendly smile was just that- friendly. His questions and comments were just polite small talk. The way he would meet Castiel's eyes and wink confidentially as he teased Sam was just-

Well, it certainly wasn't an invitation to excuse themselves from the table and rip each other's clothes off in the shadows of the empty lot outside.

And that, unfortunately, was the problem. All Castiel could think as Dean sat across from him was about how inappropriate it would be to launch himself across the table, plant himself on his lap, and taste those rosy lips.

It was dangerous to get this to close to Dean.

The fact was really driven home by an unthinking comment from Garth.

They had just been laughing about Dean's habit of bear-hugging the nearest people to him when he was completely wasted, which Dean had insisted was just him trying to use neighbors to keep his balance, when Garth spoke up.

"Yeah, man. That used to drive Lisa crazy-jealous." He seemed to realize his mistake before he finished his sentence but it was already to late.

Castiel watched as Sam stiffened and Jess looked worriedly down. In his confusion he looked over to Dean, planning to send him a questioning look about the sudden mood change.

Dean's face had changed, a frown playing across his downturned lips, and a distant look passing across his eyes. Castiel's hand suddenly clenched, tempted to reach out and touch the man.

"Sorry, Dean." Garth muttered.

Dean's eyes darted up, realizing that everyone's eyes were on him. Suddenly, the smile was back on as if it had never left.

"No worries, man. Anyway, Lisa never got nearly as pissed as Jeana. You guys remember her, right?" He burst out laughing, and Castiel could almost believe he meant it. "She full-on punched this one chick who was holding me up on one of my benders! Then they both ended up in this super-hot chick fight, and Ellen had to separate them by pulling them apart by their hair." The rest of the group finally returned to laughing, imagining the scene.

Castiel tried to chuckle along with them, but a tight knot of pain had formed in his chest at Dean's words.

_Dean is straight. _

_Not just straight, but apparently still emotionally attached to a woman from a previous relationship._

That sealed it. Castiel could look, but could never touch.

Dean was out of his reach. He silently chided himself for even entertaining the idea of Dean and him ever being together. Of course Dean was straight. He was just a friendly guy, with a good sense of humor, who was slightly interested in Castiel's wild weekend. That was it.

Before Castiel could let the knowledge really sink in, Dean was leaning forward conspiratorially, saying something about Jess not knowing how old Sam was when he finally stopped wetting the bed. Castiel had to smile back at the obvious jab, snapping out of his morose thoughts, as Sam flung a coaster at Dean's head.

By the time everyone was finally worn out and ready to leave, it was already two a.m.

Dean had been reluctant to see Castiel leave, insisting that he at least set a day when he would stop by the Road House to properly meet the rest of the group of friends.

Castiel had been hesitant. The overwhelming desire just to be near Dean's glowing, warm personality warred hard with his dislike of sustained sexual torture.

Knowing that Dean was straight didn't just flip a switch to turn off Castiel's desire. It just made him feel worse about wanting the man.

But Dean was waiting for his answer, eyes filled with hopeful expectation, and the potential for another bright smile resting in the corner of his perfect mouth. Castiel realized that he was craving Dean's smile. He would have agreed to anything to be the reason for Dean to smile.

Of course, he agreed. Next Tuesday at six. The not-date was set. And Castiel was rewarded with his bright smile and enthusiastic wave good-bye.

He watched from his taxi window as Dean's muscular frame disappeared out of sight.

From the seat beside him, Gabriel practically sang, "I know what you are thinking...and you ought to be Ashamed." He chuckled merrily.

Castiel's head snapped around to look at his brother, the full implication of Gabriel's presence tonight finally dawning on him. _Oh. God._

"Don't you dare. Don't you dare try ANYTHING, Gabriel!" Full-blown panic was seizing Castiel, amplified by the alcohol in his system.

How could he possibly have forgotten about Gabriel?! Of course, the answer was simple-Dean had been the only thing that mattered to Castiel from the second he had appeared, shaking his firm ass all over the stage. The fact that his ultra-intrusive brother with no respect for personal boundaries was happily watching Castiel, and undoubtedly taking notes on his obvious interest in the singer had gone completely unnoticed until now.

_This can't happen,_ Castiel thought with alarm, _Gabriel could NOT be allowed to ruin this for him. If he tried to force Dean and Castiel together through some insane match-making plot, than Dean might never want to see him again. The thought was crippling._

Castiel's hand shot forward, grabbing his older brother's shirt and pulling him in closely. His voice was edged with the threat of the wrath of Heaven itself, "If you try to stick your nose into this, Gabriel, I swear to God…" He searched hard for the harshest thing he could think of to use against his brother. The alcohol was not helping his brain functions, and his desperation grew to almost impossible levels of fear,"I'll…I'll…"

Nothing. He couldn't think clearly enough to come up with a single threat.

He released his hold on the shirt and looked into Gabriel's expectant eyes, his voice expressing his hopelessness, "Just, please. Please don't scare Dean away. It's fine for us to just be friends, so…please, Gabe."

Gabriel's eyes softened, and he looked at Castiel closely. Castiel held his gaze, silently pleading.

"You really think it's ok? That you can just put your own feelings aside and act all buddy-buddy with him? Gabriel's voice was serious as he stared intently into Castiel's eyes.

"I know I can. I'm not looking for love anymore, Gabe. I'm tired of making the same stupid mistakes. Dean is straight and he just wants to be a friend. That's all I need, too. Just a friend with no romantic complications- for once in my life. Please, don't ruin this for me." He was practically begging.

Gabriel looked at his brother with a frown for a few moments longer before sliding back in his seat with a frustrated huff. Castiel heard him mutter, "You are hopeless, baby brother."

Castiel frowned to himself, praying that Gabriel would respect his request.

…-^o^-…

Castiel snapped abruptly back to the couch and the kitten when the little animal began enthusiastically trying to eat his hair.

Yawning loudly, he dragged himself up and off to bed. His last conscious thought before drifting off to sleep was about how he had to wait three more days for Tuesday.

…-^o^-…

_The warmth of hot skin sliding against skin was like electricity. Scalding fingers left tingling trails in their wake as they sank lower, brushing against sensitive hairs._

_"Mmmhh, Dean-," Castiel groaned in anticipation, his voice practically gravel._

_Dean leaned in and allowed his hot lips to trail slowly across Castiel's throat. The rough stubble of his chin caused a delightful burn on the soft skin, making Castiel moan deeply again. _

_His body shuddered and twisted beneath Dean's, his hands searching for, and desperately clamping onto, the other man's._

_Dean chuckled into Castiel's throat as the panting man tried to urge Dean's hand to move further._

_Finally, Dean reached the hard, throbbing heat of Castiel's cock, grasping the length of it firmly._

_Castiel writhed against him, trying to thrust his hips up to increase the delicious pressure._

_"D-Dean-please. Mmmhh, please-!" Castiel threw his head back, hands tightening on Dean's wrists, as Dean began sliding his own up and down Castiel's erection._

_The deep moans and panting breaths from Castiel were causing resounding throbs from Dean's own erection. He pressed his hips down, grinding his cock against Castiel's thigh in time with his pumping hands._

_Castiel's hands, desperate for something solid to grip as he tossed and shuddered, slid all over Dean's body, nails digging and dragging across the heated flesh._

_They were both close. Moaning and kissing whatever they could reach. Slick bodies sliding smoothly as they rocked against each other._

_Dean lifted his head from where he was nipping and sucking harshly on Castiel's collar, and gazed down._

_Castiel's eyes were squeezed shut, mouth open to gulp in labored breaths. From deep in his throat, an almost pained moan was sounding. His cheeks were flushed pink, and his lips were dark and bruised from attention._

_Dean knew they wouldn't last much longer._

_He moved his trembling free-hand, sliding it into Castiel's dark and unruly hair and tightening his grip. _

_The hard tug caused Castiel's bright blue eyes to fly open and lock onto Dean's as he moaned loudly. The raw lust and heat in the wide blue orbs, sent Dean careening uncontrollably over the edge as he slammed his mouth hard against Castiel's._

_At the same time, he felt Castiel shudder his release, digging his nails deep into Dean's back, pulling them both even closer together._

Dean's entire body shook and rocked as he pumped his hips, riding out his orgasm.

His muscles hummed from pleasure, and he gasped deep breaths, releasing wrecked moans with every exhale.

He tilted his head down, lips seeking out the softness of Castiel's, but only finding coarse cotton fabric instead. His hands groped out, and grasped sheets where heated skin had just been.

Still dazed from his release, Dean managed to force his eyes to crack open slowly.

The light from sun breaking through the curtains of his window burned his eyes, and he abruptly closed them again.

As his muscles began to relax, he stretched them out, feeling them tingle and pulse as they slid over the warm sheets beneath him.

_Holy fuck,_ he chuckled happily to himself, _That one is going in the Wet Dream Hall of Fame._

He reluctantly rolled his still shuddering body over, breathing in deeply as the remaining fog of sleep drifted from his mind.

He smiled uncontrollably, grasping as the memory of the incredible dream tried to slip away. The image of Castiel's mussed hair and lust blown eyes danced across his mind, making him hum contently.

Suddenly, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been thrown over him, his eyes snapped open and his body shot up.

_What the High-Holy-Fuck!_

He just dreamed about Cas. He just had a wet-fucking-dream about Cas!_ What the Hell?!_

Dean ripped the warm sheets off his cooling body, and, yes, his boxers were damp with cum.

_Holy shit. Oh-fuck my life. I came thinking about a dude. I GOT OFF to a dream about a dude!_

The picture of Castiel, head thrown back in ecstasy, flashed across his mind and his body pulsed in pleasure at the memory.

Dean ran his shaking hands over his face and through his short hair, forcing his heart to slow back down to a normal speed.

_This was fine, _he tried desperately to convince himself._ This doesn't mean anything. It was just one of those weird dreams that everybody has. I've had them before, like when I was younger-yeah, he'd had all kinds of weird wet dreams. The history teacher, Mrs. Gregor. A few awkward ones about Jo. Even one featuring the blue chick from X-Men. It was just another completely natural, meaningless dream created by his subconscious because he hadn't been laid in a while._

_Right. Yes. He was just a little horny. No way to control who his mind threw into his dreams._

He took a few more controlled breaths.

"I am totally fine," he stated out loud. "That was nothing. Shit like this just happens sometimes. No need to dwell on it." He nodded to himself.

Someone knocked on his bedroom door, making him jump guiltily.

"Dean? Are you awake?" Sam's muffled voice called through the door.

"Yeah," Dean's voice cracked. He cleared it and spoke louder, "Yeah, I'm up Sammy."

"Ok. It's, like, almost noon, dude. I thought I was going to have to check for a pulse soon." Sam said jokingly from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, no. I'm fine. Everything's fine. I'll be out in few minutes." Dean responded hurriedly, rolling out of his bed to strip off his soiled boxers. God, he felt like a fucking teenager again.

He heard Sam shuffle away down the hall.

_Everything is going to be just fine,_ he said to himself a final time as he grabbed a change of clothes and ducked out of his room straight for the bathroom to take a nice, refreshing, ice-cold shower.

…-^o^-…

Sam picked up his phone when he heard it tweet, signaling a text.

_A: I can't believe I missed out on everything last night. : (_

_S: No worries Ash. We can tell you all about it. You were definitely right, tho- Dean was practically drooling in the guy's lap._

_A: : ) Still wish I could have seen it. Can't wait till Tuesday!_

_S: I think we need to take this slow. We need a plan._

_A: I'm down. Let me talk with the others. You be sure not to spook your brother. He's definitely a flight risk at this point._

_S: Got it_

Sam set his phone on the coffee table in front of him, and listened to the sound of doors opening and closing down the hall, followed by the sound of the shower being turned on.

"This is going to be tough," Sam sighed to himself.

* * *

The line 'I know what you are thinking, and you ought to be ashamed' is credited to Victor/Victoria, the Movie/Musical (So cute-I had to use it!)

Next up: The kitten gets himself into a...predicament.

Cas needs a hero (and a big ladder)!

Omelets and manipulative brothers.


	10. Chapter 10-Help! Lucifer is Gonna Fall!

Castiel's Saturday started much earlier than his aching head would have liked.

The kitten had to be dropped off at the local pet store for the adoption event. Castiel arrived a few minutes before ten a.m., and watched as the women from the rescue set up the cage and had him place the kitten inside.

The kitten, who had been nervous about leaving the apartment, crouched low in the back corner of the cage, making angry noises whenever people passed by.

A glance around showed Castiel that the majority of the other cats on display were smaller kittens, almost all balls of colorful fluff. _Tough competition_, he thought.

His foster kitten looked much older and significantly less cute in comparison. Castiel felt a twang of sympathy for the little guy. He decided to stay for a little while, hoping to help get the kitten adopted by explaining the circumstances of the little orphan's recent rescue to prospective parents.

He ended up staying all day, hoping that each family walking in the direction for the tables would be the ones who would fall in love with the little black kitten, and take him into their loving home. He needn't have bothered. All the families that came to see the kittens took one look inside the cage where the cat hissed at them, and moved quickly past to see the cuter kittens. The few that did stop at the cage tended to be women, who were more interested in Castiel than his charge.

And so, it was with frustration that Castiel left with the kitten to return home. The small animal didn't seem upset by the day's failure, racing excitedly out from his carrier and off to jump around the furniture.

Castiel gave him a handful of treats anyway. They were more for his own benefit than the kitten's. The poor little guy didn't have a single person in the world that wanted anything to do with him. Except Castiel. And even he was trying to pass the little fellow off to anyone who would take him.

"You know I can't keep you, right?" He mumbled to the happily munching kitten, "My life is a mess. You deserve better."

The kitten chose to ignore him.

…-^o^-…

Castiel awoke Sunday morning to the sound of meowing from the living room. A glance at the clock on his nightstand showed that it was 6:43 a.m. He groaned angrily and pulled his pillow over his head, drowning out the cries.

He awoke again to loud cries, this time the clock indicating 9:13 a.m.

Feeling frustrated, he called tiredly for the kitten, hoping the sound of his voice would attract the animal to him in his bed, where he could hold it until it calmed down. Crying was fairly usual the first few nights, but the animal had stopped after that, finding ways to preoccupy himself while Castiel slept.

However, the kitten did not come racing to the sound of his voice as usual, and instead continued the loud crying.

Finally, Castiel thrust the covers off of himself and rolled out of the warmth of his bed.

"This is exactly why I don't want a pet," Castiel stated groggily to himself as he padded barefoot toward the sounds of the mewling.

His stomach dropped in terror when he arrived at the entrance to the living room. Castiel's apartment has high, vaulted ceilings. It had been the selling point for Castiel when he chose the condo.

The kitten was crying and pacing in alarm from the top window alcove twenty feet off the floor. A busted wall sconce lying on the floor and a large painting hanging askew showed the path that the terrified cat had used to scale to the great height.

When he saw Castiel, he began crying louder, and leaning his small body over the edge of the perch, as if planning to try an jump from the great height. The only thing below the alcove was the narrow edge of a desk that was sitting along the wall, and hardwood flooring.

"Don't jump!" Castiel shouted loudly at the terrified kitten. Whether or not the cat understood, Castiel couldn't guess, but it did move back temporarily from the edge. Without taking his eyes away from the little creature, he shot over to the couch and pulled the cushions off, throwing them across the floor beneath the alcove.

Unsure whether the cushions would be soft enough to save the cat if he fell, Castiel raced through his apartment searching for any pieces of furniture that would be tall enough for him to climb up and save the kitten.

Five hectic minutes later, Castiel was balancing dangerously on a chair, stacked on his coffee table, which was sitting on top of his kitchen table. The furniture slid and tilted dangerously beneath him as he reached up on his tip-toes trying to stretch the last foot needed to grab the kitten.

The cat would have nothing to do with the hazardous rescue. It dodged further back into the alcove, near the window pane, and far from Castiel's reach.

Cursing at the animal, and trying not to lose his tenuous balance, Castiel was forced to retreat.

Pacing back and forth as the kitten renewed its cries and continued leaning dangerous close to the edge, Castiel tried to think what to do.

He could try to add more padding below the alcove and wait for the kitten to risk the jump or fall. But the idea of the small body dropping helplessly from such a height made Castiel almost physically sick. He needed a ladder.

Grabbing his phone, he punched in the number of his brother.

"...Cassie? What the heck? Do you know what time it is?" His brother's sleepy voice answered. In the backround, Castiel heard techno music.

"Gabe-it's bad. I need a big ladder, right now!"

"What? Whoa, bro! What's going on? Are you ok?"

"It's the kitten, Gabe. He's stuck up in the living room alcove and I can't get him down. He's scared and he wont stop acting like he's going to jump! I need a ladder. You've got one at one of your houses, right? I need you to bring one quick!" Castiel lowered the phone from his mouth, but Gabriel could still hear his panicked voice as it yelled to the kitten, "No! Don't you do it! Stay right there and wait!" Castiel raised the phone back to his mouth, "Gabe, please hurry. I think he's been stuck up there for a long time!"

"Ok, ok. Just calm down. I think I know where I can get a big ladder. Just wait and I'll be there soon."

Castiel hung up the phone and watched nervously as the kitten stared down at him, pleading for help.

"Just wait, little buddy. Help is on the way."

…-^o^-…

Dean woke up to the sound of his phone ringing around 9:30.

To tired to think of looking at the caller ID, he answered the phone with a a voice slurred from sleep.

"Mmmmyellooo?"

"Deano! Glad you're up! This is Gabriel- Castiel's brother."

Dean snapped awake at the sound of Castiel's name. "Oh, uh, yeah. Gabriel." Dean searched his mind, only vaguely remembering that a small, and very strange brown haired man had been at the booth with them Friday night. "What's up, Gabriel? And how did you get my number?"

"Oh, you know, I hit up Garth. Listen, buddy. Castiel's having a minor crisis at his apartment. Do you have a ladder that can extend over twenty-feet?"

"Wait-what do you mean a 'minor crisis'? Is he OK?" Dean was already jumping up from his bed a throwing open drawers to pull out clean clothes.

"Stay focused, Deano. You got a ladder or not?"

"Um, yeah, we've got lots at the Auto Shop."

"Perfect. I'll meet you there in fifteen minutes." Dean heard the phone click as Castiel's brother hung up. Despite his concern for Castiel's safety, he couldn't help but wonder why Gabriel had seemed almost cheerful as he arranged the meeting time. Weird guy.

Finally dressed, Dean stopped to look self-consciously in his long standing mirror. That was when he realized that his reflection was smiling broadly.

He was getting to see Castiel earlier than expected. He rarely ever scrutinized his appearance, even when he was planning a date with Lisa or one of his many other flings. This time, he took an extra minute to straighten out his short hair and struggle with the decision to tuck his shirt in around the belt buckle portion, or let it hang down. It was a surprisingly tough decision. Frustrated to be wasting time over something trivial when Cas needed his help, Dean finally just left the shirt hanging down, and quickly left for the front door.

As he passed the living room windows, he noticed his brother and the new girlfriend, Jess, were outside in the sunny backyard contorting themselves separately into painful looking yoga positions. Was everyone around Dean a bunch of weirdos?

He left without saying good-bye, concerned that distracting the two may lead to a snapped vertebrae.

…-^o^-…

It had been almost forty-minutes when Castiel finally heard the sound of his doorbell ringing.

He moved from where he had been pacing helplessly beneath the alcove, listening to the pathetic crying of the kitten.

Gabriel hadn't been answering any of Castiel's texts, and he was beginning to worry that his brother had passed back out immediately after taking the call.

He ran to the door, not bothering to look through the peep hole, gearing himself up to chew out his brother for not answering him.

As he threw the door open, his words choked in throat before they could get out.

…-^o^-…

Gabriel had met Dean, and led with him following in the Auto Shop truck, to Castiel's condo.

The smaller man was covered in glitter and neon paint. His clothes were wrinkled, and even ripped in some places. When he first met Dean, and saw him staring, the little fellow had just winked confidently at him and proceeded on as if there was nothing strange about his appearance.

Dean shrugged it off, recalling Castiel's account of his previous weekend being mostly attributed to his older brother's poor choices.

Dean wasn't sure what he expected. He knew that Cas was going to be there, of course. He was prepared for the man to answer the door as Gabriel was repeatedly- and very annoyingly- pressing the doorbell.

In his mind, he was expecting Castiel: Nice suit- maybe dressed down a bit like he was a the concert. But, still very much the upper class, professional looking man that he had met twice already.

Instead, the door was flung open to reveal the very shirtless, wild-haired, flushed face of the man who had starred in Dean's incredible wet dream.

The heavy ladder almost slipped out of Dean's hands. The air left his lungs with a sudden WHOOMF.

Cas's eyes almost instantly locked onto his with a familiarity that Dean was beginning to enjoy. The bright blue seemed somehow more noticeable in the light of the morning sun shining from the various windows. They widened in- yes, Dean was sure this time- 'alarm' when he noticed Dean.

_So, _Dean thought_, Gabriel had NOT told Castiel that Dean was coming with him._ That explained the lack of clothing. Dean eyes did another quick scan, taking in the wild ruffled hair, and soft cotton plaid pajama pants resting dangerously low on pale, lean hips. A dark trail of hair stretched down from his belly button, disappearing into the waist of the pants.

_Thank you, Gabriel, you strange, wonderful little unthinking bastard._

Dean was forced to draw his attention back quickly, as Gabriel pushed forward, into the apartment and past an increasingly red-faced Castiel, carrying his portion of the large ladder.

Dean gave Cas a cheerful smile, as he went by. The poor guy seemed absolutely mortified to be seen in his pajamas. Dean tried not to chuckle. _Some people embarrassed easy_, he figured.

A series of loud meows drew Dean's attention up to a high ledge in the living room area. A small black shape, the kitten from the garage on Monday he recognized, was leaning near the edge. Directly below it, on the living room floor, a huge pile of cushions, blankets and pillows were laid out. To the side, a stack of furniture was standing precariously, clearly an effort at climbing to reach the animal.

Dean turned back to Castiel grinning, and saw that the man was at least three shades redder than before. Poor guy, Dean thought, trying not to laugh out loud.

"So, I guess the fire department was next on your call list, huh?" Dean chuckled.

"Dean. I am so sorry. I had no idea my brother was going to ask you to help." The man mumbled, avoiding eye contact, his arms crossed almost shyly over his chest.

"Dean here doesn't mind at all, do you buddy?" Gabriel came over to slap Dean on the back and smile as he looked cheerfully back and forth between the two. "Well, I hate to have to run, but I promised my lady friends that I would be back with the chocolate syrup as soon as possible. Dean," he turned smile up at him, "Castiel makes incredible omelets. Make sure he fixes you up with breakfast for coming all the way out to help him."

And with that, the small man dashed out the door, shutting it with a resounding slam.

Dean and Castiel were alone.

Dean looked over at Cas, who was fixing a furious glare at the door his brother had exited through quickly.

_Whoa. _Dean thought, trying not to stare._ Angry Cas was…sexy. _

He tried to shake the word from his mind, looking for something more appropriate to describe the man.

No, just sexy. No other word could come close to explaining the heat and giddiness that Dean felt as he observed Castiel's furrowed brows and frowning lips.

_Shit!_ Dean hissed nervously at himself. _What is wrong with me. I have one meaningless wet dream and now I can't even look at the guy without my mind dropping into the gutter._

Fortunately, a particularly loud cry from the kitten pulled both of their attention back to the important matter of the rescue.

"I'm, um, I'm just going to grab a shirt. Be right back." Castiel mumbled, already half-way down the hall before he finished. Dean caught a quick glimpse of a small tattoo just below the other man's collar on the back of his neck. It looked like a small set of wings with a sword and halo between them.

_That's hot, _Dean thought as the man and his tattoo disappeared at out of sight.

He moved forward, extending the ladder out and setting up along the wall. He could sense immediately when Cas returned to the room.

"So," Dean said humorously as he got everything set up, "You decided to keep it, even though it nearly got you killed, huh?"

"Um, not quite. I just agreed to foster him until a family adopts him. There weren't really any other options."

Dean smiled wider. "So, what? You just babysit him until someone calls asking about an unlucky cat that they can add to their family?" He felt a rush of happiness as he saw Castiel give his little half smile.

"No, I have to take him to 'adoption events' every Saturday." Dean bit back a laugh as Cas used cute air quotes. "But, if yesterday is anything to go off of, he may not be adopted for a long time. He has a pretty bad attitude with other people and cats."

Castiel joined him, standing beside the base of the ladder as Dean began to climb. He called down as he moved up, "What did you decide to name him?"

From below, Castiel paused before calling up, "I haven't really decided yet. I've just been calling him Cat." Dean laughed at this.

When he finally made it to the alcove, the kitten had fled nervously to the back, hissing loudly with fur standing up. He noticed that there were several small toys and even a few cat treats sitting on the flat surface. Dean glanced down to Castiel and held one up questioningly.

"I…I didn't want him to be scared, so I threw a few things up there for him. You can just knock them down. Thanks." Dean turned back away where Cas couldn't see him and took a moment to breath deeply. _Geez, the guy was fucking adorable._

Dean made several grabs before finally catching ahold of the wriggling ball of angry claws and teeth. Trying to keep the terrified kitten in one hand while scaling the long length of the ladder where Cas waited nervously below was difficult.

He managed to get safely down, where Castiel reached out for the kitten. Instead of leaping happily into Castiel's waiting arms, the kitten launched up Dean's arm and dug its tiny claws into the soft skin of his neck.

Castiel jumped forward immediately, trying to unhinge the kitten without hurting Dean. But, the kitten was committed. It would lose it grip on one paw and just shift to dig in in another area. Dean winced painfully.

Suddenly, Castiel was so close that his wild hair was brushing against Dean's face.

It was soft, and smelled incredible. Dean took advantage of the temporary closeness to breath in the scent. Castiel was absorbed in trying to calm the cat and pull it loose. His warm breath was caressing Dean's stinging neck.

Dean cringed silently as he felt the beginning of an erection forming. A strong sense of guilt overcame him. Here he was, in a new friend's house, having lewd thoughts about him. It was completely inappropriate. Cas had no idea about being prominently featured in Dean's graphic sex dream. He would probably think Dean was gay if he ever found out about it. He would almost definitely not want to hang out again.

_This is not a wet dream,_ Dean thought urgently, willing his body to listen as the kitten scratched him again mercilessly, _You are just here to help out a friend. You are not gay. You cannot be having these kinds of thoughts about Cas._

The kitten decided at that moment to finally let go, taking a quick swipe at Castiel's already scratched hands, before jumping down and darting under the entertainment system.

Castiel moved away from Dean, worry evident all over his face and asked, "Are you OK, Dean? I am so sorry. He was just really freaked out. I promise he isn't normally like that."

Dean smiled as he looked into Castiel's wide, sincere eyes. "Lucifer." Dean stated.

Castiel frowned and tilted his head slightly to side.

_Oh, shit. So fucking cute_, Dean thought. _Focus_.

"The cat's name," Dean explained with a encouraging grin. "You should totally call him Lucifer. Maybe 'Lu' for short."

Castiel's confusion slowly shifted into that elusive half-smile as he understood what Dean was saying.

"Lucifer." He tested the name out, turning to glance over at the entertainment system where a pair of green eyes were visible. "…I like it."

He turned back to Dean with a full-blown smile this time, and Dean almost choked on his own breath.

_Fuck. How did people not fall all over themselves daily trying to get Cas to smile for them? It was addicting._ Dean thought as his pants tightened painfully.

Desperate to stay in the apartment longer, and to talk about anything that would take his mind off of the discomfort in his pants, he managed to blurt out, "So, Gabriel mentioned omelets?"

_It's perfect,_ Dean congratulated himself, _Since Gabriel had suggested that Castiel treat Dean to breakfast, Dean would have an excuse to spend more time with the man- assuming he wasn't forced to escape out the window to avoid humiliation because of his uncontrollable hard-on._

* * *

A/N: I almost decided on 'Impala' for the kitten's name, but I think Lucifer suits him.

Next up: Bonding over Tim Burton.

Dean counts Cas's smiles.

Accidental cuddling.

Eavesdropping.


	11. Chapter 11-A Door Between Them

Great responses from the last chapter! I'm glad everyone got a kick out of Lucifer!

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel was making plans. They all involved Gabriel experiencing various sorts of untimely deaths.

Dean had helped Castiel put the furniture back in place, and reseat the sofa cushions and pillows. As they were working, a comfortable silence surrounded them. Occasionally, Dean would make a friendly observation about Castiel's apartment. One of the first things Dean expressed his approval on was the picture that the cat had scaled to reach the alcove. As Castiel moved the large piece from the wall to prevent further incidents, Dean commented, "I really like that one. It's different from the other framed band posters and stuff."

Castiel smiled at the painting. It was done in oils, with shockingly bright colors. The image was of a beautiful park, with a figure in a red cardigan flying a kite. "It's called 'Eternal Tuesday Afternoon'," Castiel stated quietly. "It's one of my mother's paintings. She passed away when I was very young."

Dean nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry to hear that. She was very talented."

Castiel smiled at Dean, and for several moments they stared at one another comfortably. Castiel was the first to break eye contact.

They finished tidying up the apartment just a few minutes later. The apartment wasn't excessively large or high-end. It had a small kitchen that overlooked the living room, where sunny rays of light were pouring inside. A hallway led to the large bathroom, and two bedrooms. Castiel had converted the second, smaller bedroom into a personal fitness room.

Castiel stood in his kitchen mixing the ingredients for two omelets, with the breakfast bar separating him from Dean who was excitedly perusing his DVD collection across the living room. Castiel had explained that most of the movies were actually Gabriel's old collection that Castiel had ended up keeping by default from the times in the past when Gabriel had brought them while visiting.

Every so often, Dean would excitedly shout out a title, and comment on how long it had been since he had watched that movie. His boyish excitement was making it impossible for Castiel to stay upset with his brother for the obvious set-up.

_Dean is physically here, inside my apartment, touching my stuff._ Castiel's mind buzzed. It was somehow even more intimate than when he had allowed his old boyfriends into his apartments in the past.

Castiel was having a tough time paying attention to what he was doing. Sure, Gabriel was a dick for not warning him ahead of time that he was enlisting Dean's help. And an even bigger dick for bailing immediately. But, even he had to admit that Gabriel's skills at manipulation were impressive. Plus, it wasn't like he had locked them up naked in a tiny hall closet and blasted Mariah Carey music all night. Again.

Castiel glanced again at Dean's broad back, hugged tightly by a band t-shirt. His faded blue jeans had worn holes in several places, teasing Castiel with flashes of skin. His mind wondered back to the incredible view of Dean climbing up the ladder.

He snapped his focus back to the mushrooms he was slicing. _No_. He told himself strictly. _You are not going to fantasize about Dean anymore. He is a friend. A straight, uninterested friend…who was bending over to check the movie titles on the lowest shelf. _

_Damn it. _

_Just a friend. You can do this._

Suddenly, Dean let out a shout of joy and spun around to Castiel holding up a DVD victoriously, "Beetlejuice! Aw, man, we have got to watch this! Do you mind?"

Castiel smiled and nodded in amusement.

Fifteen minutes later, they were both sitting on the large sofa, eating their omelets and occasionally commenting on the movie.

"Who's your favorite character, Cas?" Dean asked toward the middle of the movie.

Castiel, who was sitting with his legs tucked beneath him on the other end of the couch, didn't even pause to think, "Road-Kill Man."

When he didn't hear anything else from Dean immediately, he turned to glance at him. Dean was shaking from silent laughter, head turned int his arm to muffle the sound.

"Why is that funny, Dean?" Castiel asked, with genuine confusion. "Road-Kill Man is the only cheerful person working in Bureaucratic Hell. I like his optimism."

Dean took one more look at Castiel's wide, serious eyes and burst out laughing even harder.

"Cas! You, haha, you are such a weird guy!" Castiel watched Dean laughing uncontrollably, before finally giving in himself. It started with the eruption of a few chuckles and cascaded into Castiel bent over on the couch trying to gasp in breaths.

It took several minutes for them both to calm down enough to continue watching the movie.

Somehow, the conversation shifted to Tim Burton, which meant that once Beetlejuice ended, Castiel moved forward and selected another movie by Burton. When that one ended, another movie was selected. And so on.

The two men happily chatted and argued about the story lines, Dean laughing merrily as Castiel admitted to not understanding many of the scenes.

"It doesn't make sense," he grumbled in confusion, "The Oompa Loompas cannot be paid in chocolate. They would still be required to receive at least minimum wage in the local currency of the country. And the factory would never pass code- the chocolate river alone would be a health risk. The heavy-set boy contaminated it!"

Dean was rolling with laughter, clutching his sides.

Sometime around the third movie, Castiel had caught Dean's eye, and gave a small nod to something just past Dean's shoulder. He turned and saw that the kitten, Lucifer, was crouch down low on the floor, clearly trying to sneak stealthily over to where Dean was seated on the couch.

Dean turned back to Cas with a smile and a wink, and pretended to turn his attention back to the TV.

They both feigned watching the movie as the kitten maneuvered slowly and carefully to the back of the couch, then a quick jump and pause on the arm rest, followed by a slow creep around the back headrest.

Finally, after waiting and watching Dean from just a few inches away for any signs of movement or recognition, the little creature dipped down and slid under Dean's arm. He waited, frozen, for Dean to make a movement so he could bolt. Dean didn't even flinch.

After a few more seconds, the kitten plopped down heavily onto his side and began rubbing his head against Dean's stomach.

Dean released a quiet chuckle and reached down carefully to stroke his furry head. The kitten gave a loud purr in response.

Dean looked back over at Cas, who gave him big smile and a thumbs up, before returning his attention to the movie.

…-^o^-...

At around the fourth movie, Dean felt his phone vibrate. Castiel was absorbed in the current scene, staring in confusion and skepticism as Edward Scissorhands expertly carved a bush into the shape of an animal. Dean chuckled quietly at the look of intense concentration Castiel was casting at the screen. He was waiting with happy excitement for Castiel's next comment, probably about the feasibility of cutting hedges so quickly. Geez, the guy was hilarious to watch movies with.

Dean was grinning widely as he pulled out his phone. Sammy had sent him a text. He suddenly remembered that he hadn't said good-bye earlier that morning.

S: I didn't see you leave this morning. What are you doing today? I thought you, me and Jess could hang out.

D: hey sry. At cas's place.

Sam took a while to respond.

S: Castiel's place?

D: yeah, sammy. How many other cas's do we know?

There was a longer pause.

S: Ok. That's cool.

S: I like Castiel.

S: So, what are you two doing?

D: trying to watch a movie. did you need something else?

S: It's nothing. You two have fun. I'll stop texting.

Dean put his phone back into his pocket. Sammy had been acting pretty weird lately. He kept staring at Dean when he thought he wasn't looking. And he had brought up Castiel a few times, usually at random, just to say things like, 'He seems like a nice guy' and 'You two get along well, huh?'

Dean had attributed it to Sam's guilt about having a girlfriend while Dean was still single. His brother was just making sure Dean wasn't going to lock himself up in the house again.

As if Dean would feel like his brother was abandoning him. If anything, Sammy was too clingy. And the others, Ash, Benny, Jo and all of them, they were just way too concerned about keeping Dean happy. It was like they treated him as if he were a delicate piece of china. The constant attention and forced conversations were frustrating.

That's the great thing about being with Cas, Dean thought. He just seemed easy to be around. No desperate attempts to cheer Dean up, or ask if he was ok. No need to fake a smile if he wasn't feeling it, or break the long silences with meaningless chatter.

Dean felt like he didn't need to wear his mask around Cas. It was a powerful sense of freedom.

At one point, Dean excused himself to run to the restroom. As he was exiting, he caught a glimpse into the room across the narrow hall. The room was done in tones of light blues and greens. There was an king-sized unmade bed, with rumpled dark blue sheets and at least eight fluffy pillows piled on everywhere on top of it. Dean's mind immediately pictured Castiel, shirtless and in his pajama pants as he was that morning. He imagined the man stretched out across the bed, pale skin casting a stark contrast to the sheets.

Before he realized it, he was standing in the bedroom's doorframe, eyes locked on the bed, searching for the imprint of the other man's body in the curves and folds of the sheets. He inhaled deeply, and the scent that Dean had picked up earlier on Castiel filled in nostrils. A shiver coursed through his body. His muscles clenched as arousal began to build back up.

_What was Cas like in bed? Did he bring women here- let them share this bed with him? Did they get to slide their painted nails over his pale skin and trail kisses down his abs to his-_

"Dean, did you get lost?" Castiel's voice called humorously from the couch in the living room just a couple dozen feet away from where he stood. Dean nearly jumped out of his skin with shock and guilt.

_What the hell was he doing? He had to shake these crazy fantasies about Cas._

He quickly returned to the living room, making a joke about getting stuck in Narnia.

By late-afternoon, they agreed to keep the marathon going strong and order in for pizza. After a ten-minute discussion about the merits of Supreme versus Meat lovers, they compromised on a Supreme with extra pepperoni.

That sat comfortably on the opposite sides of the sofa, eating and laughing. Dean teased Castiel about his refusal to watch Nightmare Before Christmas. Castiel defended his stance, insisting that the movie belonged in the horror genre, and was absolutely terrifying. Dean's stomach was beginning to ache from the number of times he had laughed today. It felt like it had been years since he had enjoyed being around someone this much.

He even began keeping count of the number of times Castiel flashed him a smile. He was at a count of thirty-six by seven o'clock. Dean felt his heart flutter just as much on the thirty-sixth one as it had on the first.

_They were all just for him_, Dean prided himself silently.

…-^o^-…

Dean awoke slowly to the gentle tickle of warm breath on his neck.

An attempt to shift his body was met with resistance. As the numbness of sleep began to wear off, Dean became increasingly aware of his surroundings. The low sound of music was playing on repeat from the title page of the DVD menu. The room was cast in shadow, the only light coming from the TV screen. Outside the huge windows of the living room was darkness.

Castiel was practically lying on top of him, wrapped tightly like an octopus.

Dean was positive that the sudden fast pounding of his heart would wake the sleeping man.

Turning his head slowly, he tried to see Castiel's face. All he could see was the profile, bathed in the glow of the television.

But that, plus the warmth of the man's body heat, and-Dean swallowed hard and almost choked- the unmistakeable hardness of Cas's cock pressing closely into his hip, had Dean's entire body tensing up with heated arousal.

_Shit. Shitshitshit._

He tried not to breath too deeply, afraid that even the smallest movement would wake the man. Dean was sure that Castiel waking up in the arms of another man, instead of whatever woman he was dreaming about, would be awkward enough, but that would be compounded by the fact that said man was awake and clearly getting turned on.

After several terrifying minutes of trying to decide what to do, Dean finally began to inch himself out of the death grip that Castiel had him in. As he slowly and carefully shifted and rocked to untangle himself, he felt Castiel begin to stir. The grip tightened as the the man let out a contented sigh. His hips rolled gently, pressing his erection even more into Dean's hip.

Unable to control his body's response, Dean's own hips gave an enthusiastic buck.

The sudden motion shook Castiel and Dean realized that the man was beginning to wake. Absolutely horrified at being discovered for the pervert that he clearly was, Dean forced his body to go slack and desperately feigned heavy sleep.

…-^o^-…

Castiel's body hummed with arousal as he began to slowly wake up. He was locked firmly against soft heat, and he breathed deeply and nuzzled closer to the warmth. The unmistakeable feeling of muscles under warm fabric was the clue that he was not wrapped around one of his many pillows in his bed.

Forcing his tired eyes open, he almost jumped up in shock. It was a good thing his body was still half-asleep, or he would have almost certainly shoved himself away from Dean and off the narrow couch.

_Oh, no. No-no-no-no-no. How did this happen?!_

Carefully, fueled by pure terror, Castiel unwrapped himself from Dean and gently rolled off the couch and quietly onto the floor. He waited several seconds, listening for the sound of Dean's breathing to change. When he heard nothing, he slowly peeked up at the sleeping man.

Thank God, Dean appeared to have slept through the entire thing. His face was turned away, almost buried in the back cushions of the couch. His chest was rising and falling slowly.

Castiel sent up a silent prayer to whatever heavenly forces had saved him from having to explain his embarrassing sleeping positions and even more embarrassing erection to Dean. There must have been several guardian angels working overtime to wake Castiel up before Dean could discover their situation.

Castiel rose quietly and headed straight down the hall to bathroom, shutting the door gently before turning on the light.

After his burning eyes adjusted to the brightness, he caught his image in the large bathroom mirror. He looked scared, his eyes were wider than normal.

Taking a few deep breaths, he stared at his reflection in anger. _What the hell am I doing? He thought to himself. How could I just fall asleep with Dean right there? And how did we end up together in the middle of the couch? Everything had been going so well._

He let his head drop forward with a deep sigh. He sent up another thank you to the heavens. Dean was nice, but even he wouldn't appreciate Castiel taking liberties with his unconscious body while he was sleeping.

Castiel had to think. But, that was difficult with his cock pulsing hotly every second. The memory of his erection pressing through his own soft cotton pants against the course fabric of Dean's jeans made his cock twitch in excitement.

There really was no choice. He couldn't just leave it be.

Castiel cast another guilty glance at the door, ashamed that he was having to do this. He had the sexiest man he had ever met asleep on his couch, and he was shut up in the bathroom at two o'clock in the morning, trying to convince himself that it was perfectly ok to masturbate to the memory of being in his arms.

How did life get this complicated?

Stealing one last embarrassed glance at the closed door, Castiel reached down and pulled his heavy erection out. It had been over a month now since the last time he had gotten off. Closing his eyes, he began to gently stroke himself. The familiar heat built up quickly.

Guiltily, but unable to resist, Castiel began to picture Dean. His grinning face appeared, eyes focused on Castiel's. Except now they held a heat that Castiel had never seen in them. With a quick wink, Dean dipped low in front of Castiel, his head stopping in front of his cock.

Castiel released a moan, then bit his lip to silence himself. He couldn't risk waking the man sleeping outside on his couch.

But, in his mind, Dream-Dean was leaning forward and extending his wet, pink tongue out to take several small licks across the head of Castiel cock.

Castiel gasped, as he swiped his own thumb teasingly over the swollen head.

Dream-Dean gave Castiel a cheeky smile before abruptly taking all of him into his mouth.

Castiel groaned and panted as his hand stroked quickly. His legs began to tremble, and his hips made thrusting movements into his moving hand, needing more friction. Castiel felt the tightening in his balls as his release began to build. He came with an half-choked moan that seemed to draw from deep inside him, catching on sucking breaths. He body shuddered hard as he sank shaking to the floor.

_I am going straight to Hell,_ Castiel thought to himself. _There is probably a section specially reserved for people who get off to thinking about their straight friends…_

…-^o^-…

Dean had kept perfectly calm and still as he felt Castiel gasp loudly into his neck and pull off of him.

The sudden chill at losing the man's body heat had almost made Dean want to reach out and pull him back. Maybe pretend that he was still asleep. He fought the urge.

He heard Cas move quickly to the restroom and shut the door. Dean waited a few moments, before slowly opening his eyes.

_Shit_, he thought. _The poor guy was probably extremely embarrassed about his erection. _Dean glanced down at his own, wondering if it had been noticeable in the dim light. God, he hoped not.

Turning his head, he stared down the hallway where the soft yellow glow of the bathroom light lit up the hardwood floor.

_Cas is probably in there trying to get rid of his erection._

Dean's mind paused as he went over that one more time.

_Cas is almost definitely in the bathroom getting off._

Dean rolled his body quietly off the couch, and slowly made his way across the living room, like a zombie unable to control his own movements. He came in view of the bathroom door, the thin light shining from underneath.

_Cas is on the other side of that door, touching himself_.

Dean felt his own erection harden painfully. A cold sweat broke out across his body. Suddenly, his clothes felt to constricting and coarse.

His ears picked up on the sound of a low groan.

_Oh, shit, _Dean thought as all the air in his lungs suddenly left at once. His body moved closer to the door, completely on its own.

Another low moan and the faint sound of panting.

Dean's tight pants were painfully rubbing against his erection, but he couldn't move. Couldn't tear his thoughts away from the bathroom.

_What kind of face was Castiel making? What was he thinking about? Was it some chick?_

_Shit. Dean didn't even know if Cas had a girlfriend. How the fuck had he forgotten to ask about that? _

_Was that who he was thinking about as he touched himself? Some pretty chick? _

_What kind of women did Cas go out with? Probably some nerdy librarian types._

Dean felt the sting of jealousy over whoever she was. _Cas probably had dozens of hot women throwing themselves all over him, with his adorable wide blue eyes, and super-rare smiles._

The sound of panting increased.

Dean couldn't think clearly.

_Maybe he could offer to help. Just as a friend, helping out a friend._ His mind was buzzing, eyes locked on the door knob, his treacherous body already leaning forward.

A loud groan and several labored gasps indicated that Castiel had come.

Dean suddenly snapped back to his senses, arm extended out, hand reaching for the doorknob.

_Holy Shit! Oh, shit- what am I thinking?_! His body recoiled from the door.

_Was I seriously about to go in there and offer to help?! He would've killed me. Fuck!_

Dean raced quietly back to the couch, quickly scooting the cat off from where it had laid itself in the warmth where Dean had been lying. He positioned himself quickly back into his previous sleeping position, praying that Castiel would never suspect what a huge pervert his new friend was.

After several minutes, Dean heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and the shuffling of Castiel moving in the hall way. A blanket was suddenly draped over him, and he heard the sound of the television being turned off.

Dean waited until he heard the bedroom door shut gently down the hall, before opening his eyes in the darkness. He shifted painfully, his erection still tightly stuck inside his jeans.

Dean let out a defeated sigh. Sleep was out of the question.

* * *

Next up: Sam hovers un-covertly.

Dean discovers a surprising fact about Cas (And it's not his sexual preferences).

Charlie gets nervous.

Anna makes her move.

Ash pays Gabriel a visit to conspire.


	12. Chapter 12-The Same Blue Eyes

Castiel wasn't sure how it was possible, but he somehow managed to fall asleep with Dean just a room away on his sofa.

When he awoke at six a.m., he quietly opened his bedroom door, planning to sneak into the living room and catch a quick peek at Dean while he was sleeping soundly.

Instead, he found the couch empty, blanket folded neatly on one side. A note on the breakfast bar read:

**Cas,**

**Ducked out early to shower and change for work. Had a great time. Don't forget about Tuesday evening.**

**-Dean**

Castiel frowned as he read the note, before setting it back down, thinking.

_It wasn't weird or anything, right? Dean just wanted to get a head-start on the day. Maybe he was one of those 'early-risers'._

_Or, maybe he suspected something. He had been asleep last night, hadn't he? And Castiel had been quiet, so he couldn't possibly have woke up and overheard him in the bathroom._

A cold chill ran down Castiel's back at the thought that Dean might have somehow known what happened last night.

He re-read the note.

Nothing seemed off. Surely if he had woken up and discovered a man draped across him drooling, or worse, masturbating in the bathroom, he would have been upset and said something immediately, right?

The note seemed friendly. It even mentioned their meeting on Tuesday at the Road House. Castiel stared intensely at the note, trying to infer from even the handwriting itself, what Dean's feelings were as he wrote it this morning.

He finally gave up, deciding that he was reading too deeply into it. Dean just had to leave early. No big deal.

…-^o^-…

Dean drove the auto shop truck back to his and Sam's house just as the sun was coming up. It had been difficult to quietly exit Castiel's apartment while trying to wrestle the heavy ladder out by himself. He felt a sharp pang of guilt for sneaking out before Cas woke up. He would've loved to have had shirtless bed-head Cas make him another omelet.

Unfortunately, he had just spent the last several hours wide awake with a painful hard-on, which was being amplified by Dean's traitorous imagination.

He made it home and went straight to his room for a change of clothes, then quickly into the restroom for a shower.

As soon as the first wave of warm water hit him, he felt his body finally relax. Reaching down without any preamble, he grabbed his rigid cock in his hand and began slow strokes. The excruciating wait to be able to touch himself had caused him to become oversensitive. It only took a couple minutes and the image of blue eyes smiling brightly, and the memory of tight arms and legs wrapped against him, for Dean to come all over the shower wall with a heated moan.

He stood panting as the waves of water cleaned away his semen from the slick surface, carrying it down the drain.

_That was definitely not a dream._ Dean stated to himself as his breathing even out. _That was me, wide awake, getting off to the thought of a guy. To Cas._

Dean stood in the shower, frowning deeply as he tried to think what this meant.

_A guy getting off thinking about another guy means that they are…gay, right_? Dean exhaled deeply, leaning forward to rest his head against the wall of the shower. _Does this mean 'I' am gay?_

His mind tried to rebel at the thought. He considered all the guys he knew. Even the one's that he knew most people labeled as attractive did nothing to spark his interest. His mind flashed back to Castiel's smiling face and his chest tightened, his heart giving and erratic thump-thump.

_Was it just Cas, then? Was there something about only him that was different? Was he somehow more feminine than the average guy?_

Dean pictured Castiel. Barely shorter than Dean, he had lean, sinewy muscles. His face was masculine with a strong jaw and sharp nose. Even his lips weren't unusually luscious or plump. There really was nothing about his appearance that could be described as delicate.

His personality was quiet, but more like the strong, silent type. He didn't really come off so much 'shy' as he did 'contemplative'. As if he was paying close attention to everything around him, but only as an interested observer. When he was caught off guard, or did blush at something, he usually seemed to retreat into his thoughts with a smile. He definitely never simpered or preened like most women Dean had met.

No, there was no way Dean could blame his interest in Cas on any sort of woman-ish qualities.

Cas was very much a man. And Dean was very much attracted to that about him.

_Fuck_. Dean mumbled, curling his hands into tight fists and thumping them hard into the wall of the shower. _Fucking. Fuckity. Fuck._

He was going to need help.

…-^o^-…

When Dean finally exited the bathroom, it was to find Sammy hovering right outside the door.

Sam attempted a mask of nonchalance, failing miserably, and asked, "So, how did everything go at Castiel's place yesterday. You, uh, decided to spend the night, huh?"

Dean frowned at his brother's odd behavior, and moved to walk past him. "Yeah, it was fun. We ended up watching a lot of movies, and I fell asleep on the couch."

"Oh, ok. That sounds…nice. I mean, that's a long time to watch movies. You guys didn't do, you know, anything else while you were over there?"

Dean turned and gave his brother a confused glance, "Why are you acting so weird, Sammy? Did something happen while I was out yesterday? You didn't wreck your fucking truck again, did you?" He stared accusingly at his brother.

"What? Oh, no, dude. I just, was curious, you know." He grasped desperately for a valid excuse to be so interested in his brother's day, "Uh, Jess says that Castiel is like, an heir to the entire ADA company, so I just wondered what his place was like." Sam deflected, giving a nervous shrug.

Dean turned completely around, and stared in surprise at his brother. "What do you mean, an heir?"

"Oh. You guys never talked about that?" Dean frowned and waited. Sam continued on carefully, "Well, Jess says that Gabriel and Castiel's dad is the ADA founder. Their last name is Novak, you know? Like, the Novak Monarchy. They're supposed to be extremely rich."

Sam watched as Dean processed this information, his mouth slowly falling open, and his eyes widening.

Dean finally spoke, very slowly sounding out each word, "You're telling me that Castiel, and his super-weird brother, are freakin' heirs to a multi-billion dollar company?"

Sam shifted uncomfortably, beginning to regret mentioning the subject without thinking, "Um…yeah?"

"That can't be right, Sammy." Dean said with disbelief and rising panic, "Gabriel led me to Cas's place yesterday morning. The dude was driving a beat-up Ice Cream truck, for God's sake!" Sam's face was priceless. "Plus, Cas's place is, like, upper-middle class at best. It's just a regular condo. Nothing fancy inside, either. If he was rolling in cash, don't you think he could afford nice shit. You know, like a jumbotron TV, and... I don't know, a freakin' indoor hot tub?"

Dean was in full-on shock. Sam made an effort to calm him down. "I don't know Dean. Jess is positive that they are the heirs. It's apparently common knowledge in the offices. She did mention that people are always gossiping about them. Castiel especially, just because he refused an executive position and chooses to work in one of the lower level jobs."

Dean just continued to stare blankly at Sam as he spoke. He gaped a few times, then finally muttered, "Well. I'll be damned."

"So, I'm guessing you guys literally only watched movies all day yesterday. Like, you didn't even talk about anything, at all?" Sam asked.

"What? No, we totally talked. Just…just not about ourselves, so much." Dean fumbled, "He did mention his mother passed away when he was young. Yeah. Cas had this Crazy-nice oil painting that she painted. He was moving it because his cat, Lucifer, climbed up it and got stuck up in high ledge. That's why I went over there in the first place- he needed a ladder to get the damn cat down."

Sam's mouth had dropped almost as soon as Dean had started speaking, and, if anything had just dropped open more as he relayed the story. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait." Sam stopped him, "I don't even know where to begin. You're telling me that Castiel has one of 'The' Jane Novak's paintings in his apartment? And a frickin' CAT was using it to CLIMB ON?" Dean began backing up slowly. Sam was getting that super-geek glow in his eyes that Dean always associated with a massive nerd meltdown. "Which one was it? What did the painting look like, Dean?" He reached out and grabbed Dean's shoulders, "Describe the painting!"

Dean looked nervously at his brother and tried to remember, "Um, ok. It was a picture of a park. There was, like, lots of bright colors. Um, I think there was a person flying a kite, or something."

Sam's eyes got a distant look in them, and he whispered reverently, "Eternal Tuesday Afternoon."

Dean nodded, moving slowly out of his brother's reach, and creeping backwards toward the safety of his bedroom. "Yep. That's the one. That is what Cas called it."

Sam seemed to come back to himself, turning excitedly, "I have to tell Jess. She'll freak. That piece should be in a museum. It's gotta be worth at least three million."

Dean froze and choked. "Three million? Three million 'dollars'!? Are you shitting me, Sammy!?" But Sam had already left, running into his room to call his girlfriend. Dean just stood there in their hall way, mind blown.

_Holy shit, _he thought to himself. _Cas is fucking rich. How is that even possible?_

…-^o^-…

Charlie was nervous.

Anna had been even more silent than usual this morning, and she was casting thoughtful stares at Castiel's office door. Charlie had asked several times if Anna was feeling alright, but the woman just nodded quietly, lost in thought. It was almost lunchtime, and Anna was still deep in thought, eyes trained on Castiel's door.

Charlie wanted to ask Jess what was up, but she was worried that Anna may be upset, and get more so if the others spoke about her. The best Charlie could manage was to catch Jess's attention, and make obvious gestures when Anna wasn't looking. Jess responded by raising her hands helplessly and shrugging her shoulders.

_Not good,_ Charlie thought. _Could Anna have finally got up the nerve to hit on Castiel? Geez, this day was bound to happen. What she needed to do was act fast and pull Anna into the privacy of the restroom for a heart-to-heart. It would be tough to hear, but the poor girl needed to be set straight before she embarrassed herself or had her feelings crushed. Damn. Love was a bitch._

Before Charlie could find the words to ask Anna to go talk, Anna stood abruptly and stated with unusual firmness, "Charlie, I need to speak to Mr. Novak immediately. Please make sure we aren't interrupted."

"What? Oh! Oh, no. Now really isn't a great time! He's, um, got some stuff to handle. Why don't you and I talk for a while instead? Anna? Anna!" It was too late. Anna was knocking on Castiel's door and entering.

It shut behind her with a loud click.

Charlie's head spun around to Jess, who was staring with surprise at the door. "Did something happen at that concert you guys went to Friday? Why is Anna acting weird?"

Jess blinked a few times and answered. "I…I don't think so. I mean, she seemed a little strange during the show. Quite a few guys were hitting on us and sending drinks over. And when it ended, I left our table to go meet my boyfriend, Sam, but she was gone before I came back. I just figured it wasn't her scene."

Charlie thought about Jess's words. It didn't seem to make sense. Why would Anna not enjoying a concert suddenly cause her to make her move on Castiel? She chose her words carefully, "Jess, I've been suspecting that Anna may have an…unrequited thing… for Castiel. Can you think of any reason that she would suddenly want to act on that?"

Jess's brow furrowed in thought, then her eyes widened, "Oh. Oh, no!" Her eyes locked on Charlie's. "Castiel was there."

"What? At the concert?" Jess nodded. "Oh, crap-fest! He wasn't… He wasn't, um, you know, there with someone, was he?" She stared pointedly at Jess, trying to gauge how much Jess knew about Castiel's preferences.

Jess's eyes narrowed, and she returned Charlie's look before cautiously stating, "He wasn't, at first. But, my boyfriend's brother, Dean, recognized him from his job and they ended up…talking." She said the last word slowly.

The two women held eye-contact, neither one blinking for several tense seconds.

"Would you say Castiel was… 'unusually absorbed'… in talking with this Dean guy?" Charlie suggested.

"…I would." Jess responded back. They stared intently a few more seconds.

Then Charlie cracked a smile, and Jess grinned back. Suddenly, both women were out of their seats and chatting giddily.

"Oh my God! How long did you know?" Jess asked, hopping up and down.

"Are you kidding-Day one! It is so obvious!" Charlie nearly shrieked.

"I was getting suspicious after the third time one of the bitches from downstairs tried to give him a confession letter and he asked you to shred it!"

They ran to each other, clasping hands in friendship, and laughing about Castiel's Woman Drama.

After a few moments, Charlie realized that they had gotten completely off topic. "Hold it! Wait a second! We need to focus." Jess stepped back and nodded, glancing at the still closed office door with a frown. "You said Castiel was there, right? So, is it possible that Anna saw Castiel and got the impression that he was maybe interested in someone? Do you think she suspects he is gay? Why would she suddenly make her move now?"

Jess frowned and shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think she ever saw Castiel. I didn't even know he was there until later. The place was packed. We were sitting towards the front, by the stage. Castiel was further back, in a booth. She left almost right after the show ended. I just came back to the table to introduce her my boyfriend, and she was gone."

"This doesn't make sense, then. What could she want from Castiel, then?" Charlie muttered as the both stared at the office door.

…-^o^-…

Castiel shifted nervously, waiting for Anna to speak.

It was unusual for her even want to talk to Castiel, but it was even more alarming that she wanted to do so in private.

And she wasn't smiling at him. Castiel had never seen her not smiling at him.

Finally, she lifted her head to look up at him, and he panicked. She had tears in her eyes.

_Oh, no. This is not going to end well_. Castiel thought to himself. Out loud he asked, "Anna, um, are you feeling alright?" _Wrong question, apparently_. She began to choke on sobs.

"I'm, sniff, I'm fine. I, I just, I needed a favor and I don't, sniff, don't know how to ask." She made a valiant effort to stifle her cries and recover.

Castiel had no idea how to handle a crying woman. Usually, he was the source of their crying, after having turned down their advances or called security to remove them out from under his office desk. He made an attempt, "Ok. Well, how about you start by explaining the problem from the beginning, Anna?"

She sniffled once more and nodded, her face getting red. "There's, um, a guy." She paused, glancing nervously at Castiel. "We met about five months ago at the coffee shop across town. I, um, I used to go almost every day for the office coffee run."

Castiel frowned as she fumbled with the bottom of her blouse, trying to find the words.

"He was, you know, a really smooth talker. And, um, really good-looking. He asked me to take a break and join him for coffee one day. So, I did. Then, we kind of started to talk everyday. It was really nice." She smiled faintly for the first time since entering the office, but it faded quickly as she continued. "He…he asked me out after a while. I said yes."

Castiel was waiting patiently. So far, it seemed like a pretty straight-forward romance. Girl meets boy. Girl agrees to go out with boy. _What went wrong_, he wondered. Anna took a particularly long time before continuing.

"He had mentioned that he worked at a local auto shop." Castiel froze. "So, I thought it would be nice to pay him a visit…"

Anna was clearly about to dissolve back into tears, but Castiel was too worried about what her next words were going to be to deal with calming her down.

_It couldn't be_. Castiel told himself. _It couldn't be Dean. This mystery man who Anna was completely infatuated with could not be HIS Dean._ Castiel couldn't figure out what emotions he was feeling, whether it was jealousy, terror, or sadness. He just needed Anna to say it. To say the man's name and get it over with.

She manage to force the words out, "He was, he was there, and…and some, some blond skank was all over him! And he was just laughing while she was trying to kiss him!" She was on a roll, unable to stop as the words just started tumbling out, "And I swore to myself I would never see him again. And I stopped drinking coffee. And I stopped doing coffee runs! But then, then I go with Jess to a stupid concert, and, sniff, and he was there! He was in the band! And he tried to say hi and talk to me!" Anna's lips quivered as she suddenly snapped her eyes up to Castiel's, staring deeply into his.

She finally lost it, bursting into tears. Through the sobs and choking breaths, she managed to cry, "You-have-the-same-blue-eyes!" She threw her head onto the desk, shoulders shaking as her body was wracked with tears.

Castiel sat in shock, repeating the her words in his head. _The same BLUE eyes. Blue. Dean's eyes were absolutely green_. Castiel's shoulders sagged and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

_Thank God, Dean's eyes were green._

"Anna," Castiel said gently as her sobs grew quieter. She slowly raised her head, wiping her tear-stained eyes on the back of her hand. "What is this man's name?"

She sniffled. "Benny."

…-^o^-...

"What the Hell is your problem? Do you get your rocks off to making me look like an idiot? Why can't you just keep your mouth shut for one fucking meeting? Just one! That's all I ask! For you to sit quietly through one meeting, like you are a REAL executive. For you to refrain, for once in your life, from insulting the damn President of our entire damn office!" A clipboard landed hard on Gabriel's desk, scattering the neglected piles of paperwork.

Gabriel smiled happily, enjoying the view as Ruby paced back and forth in front of the large desk, face red with anger, and occasionally stopping to furiously jab her finger in his direction.

It really was her own fault that he worked so hard to get her riled up. She was like a Righteous Goddess when she was angry. Her voice carried, shaking the foundations of the office, and echoing throughout the entire floor.

Frankly, it was a huge turn-on.

Unfortunately, Ruby was one of the extremely rare women that Gabriel's excessive charm did not work on. The few times that he had made a sexual proposal to her, he had found himself being lifted, dazed, off the office floor a short time later by worried co-workers. That girl had a mean right-hook. Also a huge turn-on.

Gabriel basked in the glory of his secretary's ferocity, gearing up to dodge any incoming objects, as she grew more flustered by his lack of contrition.

A knock at the office door threw them both off.

They stared as the door opened and a small, skinny man in sleeveless coveralls walked in smiling like he belonged there. Behind him several very alarmed looking security personnel and office workers were standing guiltily.

"Hey there! And how are you all doing this fine Monday morning?" he asked, plopping down in one of the cushioned chairs and kicking his feet up on the edge of the desk.

Gabriel watched as Ruby's eyes narrowed to small slits. He decided top cut her off early and spare the strangers life.

"Rube, babe. I'll take it from here. Why don't run damage control for that last meeting. Maybe send Crowley some red roses from me with a note saying With Love We Can Overcome Our Differences. Thanks!" He smiled cheekily at her.

She glanced angrily from him, to the stranger, than back. She turned and left slowly, a low and primal growl coming from deep in her throat as she crossed the room and slammed the door.

The man stared at the door, then turned to Gabriel with a lopsided grin, "Dude. That was hot."

Gabriel nodded matter-of-factly, as if they were discussing the usefulness of loofas over wash clothes.

Finally, he gave the man his full attention and stated, "I like your style, my friend. But, who in the hell are you?"

"Name's Ash. And I happen to be a close friend and co-worker to a certain Dean Winchester." Gabriel eyes lit up with interest.

"I see. And to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Ash smiled at him and leaned forward, conspiratorially. "I thought you might like to join me, Garth, and a few other friends at a super-secret meeting at the Road House this evening. I believe you will find the topic of discussion…relevant… to your brother, Castiel." He wiggled his eye-brows suggestively.

Gabriel smiled back, a dangerous gleam in his eye. "I think I would like that very much." He nodded slowly at Ash. "Oh! Should I bring a casserole?"

* * *

I was giggling so much while writing this chapter. So much fun!

Be sure to tell me what you think! I hope you guys are having as much fun as I am. Anna was a fun twist to write. And Sam's not so subtle questions after Dean didn't come home. Can't you just picture him, sitting up late, watching the clock! A public service announcement comes up on the TV, 'It's ten o'clock. Do you know where your possibly-gay brother is?'

Next up: What did Anna want?

Castiel gets revenge on Gabriel.

Team Destiel meets at the Road House.


	13. Chapter 13-Pineapple Tarts and Plots

When Anna finally emerged from Castiel's office, her face was flushed, but she wore a smile. She shut Castiel's door behind her, and returned to her desk, pulling a small pack of tissues from the drawer, to dab at her eyes.

Charlie and Jess were sitting with their best impressions of disinterest at their own desks. After a few moments, Charlie spoke up, "Um, Anna, hon. Are you…doing OK?"

Anna turned to look at her, big brown eyes wide and red-rimmed. She smiled apologetically and replied, "Oh, yes. Thank you for asking, Charlie." Then turned back, and began working on her computer.

Charlie stared nervously at her turned head for a few moments, then looked wide-eyed over to Jess, signaling for her to say something. Jess looked panic and mouthed back 'What do I ask?'.

Charlie shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes before mouthing, 'How should I know?'.

Finally, Jess spoke. "So, Anna. What was it you wanted to talk with Castiel about?" Charlie cringed. Jesus, Jess. Use some tact, girl. She thought.

Anna's eyes darted from Jess to her computer, to Castiel's office door, then back. "Oh. Well, um, it's kind of a…personal matter. Mr. Novak agreed to do a favor, that's all. I'm, I'm not really comfortable talking about it…."

"Oh. A favor. That's…that's nice of him." Jess mumbled. Her wide eyes darted to Charlie's, and she shrugged helplessly.

Charlie frowned back. What kind of favor could Anna need from Castiel? Money? That would explain the tears. Could she be in debt? Or was it something more…romantic in nature.

Charlie frowned deepened. If Anna had cried to get Castiel to go on a pity date with her, there was going to be blood spilled. But, then, Charlie considered, Anna wasn't really the desperate and manipulative type. Hell, the girl couldn't make a run to copy machine without apologizing at least four times and insisting everyone else go in front of her. She was sickeningly sweet.

No, Charlie decided. Anna wouldn't be able to pull-off forcing Castiel into a relationship. So, what did she want from him. And, if it wasn't something romantic, why was she always staring at him like she was love-struck?

…-^o^-…

Early that afternoon, the elevator door dinged an arrival. Charlie looked up to see Gabriel sauntering out, grinning as he popped jelly beans from a large bag into his mouth.

"What is up, Lovely Ladies?" He asked, hopping up to sit on the edge of Charlie's desk. The women smiled at Gabriel. His flirting was infamous and they had long since grown used to it. He smiled over at Jess and stated coyly, "So, I hear you and I will be attending the same…get-together tonight."

Jess stared blankly at him for a moment before realization dawned. "Oh! Your coming, too? That's perfect!" She lowered her voice suddenly, casting a careful glance at Castiel's office door. "We could definitely use your help."

"Is it a raid?" Charlie piped in, causing both of them to realize that their were two other witnesses to their conversation. "Because let me tell you, I am always down for some WoW!"

"Actually, Red, that's one of the reasons I came down here." He grinned and continued, "I was thinking you could help us out in our little 'endeavor'. You're also invited, Red Number Two." He directed the last part at Anna with a saucy wink. He caught Jess's flailing arms and shaking head too late, but luckily Anna spoke up.

"I'm sorry Mr. Novak. I'm having some, um, family difficulties. My mother hasn't been doing very well and I already made plans to spend the evening with her." She smiled apologetically at him.

Gabriel face flashed through several painful looking expressions, before settling on genuine concern. "No. You should spend time with her. Mothers are…important. I hope she feels better real soon."

"Thank you, sir. She's actually doing much better than she was a few months ago, so I think we'll be ok." She gave a small hopeful smile.

"Anna, if you need anything, you know you can count on us, right?" Charlie said quietly from her desk. Anna looked up at her, than over to Jess with embarrassment.

"Oh, thank you. But, really, we're doing just fine. I didn't mean to air my dirty laundry at work."

Gabriel nodded slowly, then turned to Charlie, seeming to pull himself from his unusually somber mood. "Cassie's in, right Red?" Charlie nodded. "Alright. Get with Jess for the details about tonight." He waved cheerfully as he hopped off her desk and skipped over to Castiel's door and burst in without bothering to knock.

…-^o^-…

Today was another complete loss.

Castiel had spent almost all day lost in remembering his wonderful Sunday with Dean.

Try as he might, his mind relentlessly threw memories at him without warning while he tried to focus on his work.

Like the time Dean climbed the ladder and Castiel had been so captivated by his perfect, swaying ass up close that he almost didn't hear the man ask what the kitten's name was. Thank God his practice at zoning out during meetings had forced him to develop the ability to recall the last words somebody said quickly enough to spew out an answer.

Or the time Lucifer had tried to stealthily steal one of Dean's slices of pizza and the man had hopped up and made a dive as the kitten unsuccessfully tried to drag the large slice with it under the entertainment system.

Or the time Dean had been laughing so hard at one of Castiel's comments that he had physically fallen off the side of the couch, rattling the coffee table and scaring the kitten from it's nap on the couch between them. The poor creature had fluffed up to almost three times its regular size.

Every memory of the time spent with Dean seemed to glow with pure joy and comfort. It had been wonderful. Dean was just as perfect as he had seemed at first.

And even more incredible, he seemed to find Castiel just as fun to be around, if his constant laughter and their seemingly endless stream of relaxed conversation was any indication. It was almost surreal. How could a blindingly handsome, popular man like Dean like someone as aloof and socially awkward as Castiel. He didn't like to put himself down, but even Castiel had to admit that his social skills were more than a little rusty. If he were being honest, he wasn't sure he ever even had any to begin with. The result being that most people were polite and friendly to him, but few had ever willingly spent time with him if they had any other choices.

Even Castiel's boyfriends had complained constantly about his 'uptight attitude' and 'stony silences'. They always tried to urge him to be as uninhibited in public as he was in the bedroom. But Castiel could never muster the same courage he drew on during sex to use in social situations. It was a frustrating personality flaw that irked his past partners.

Dean didn't seem to find Castiel's behavior lacking, however. The man had never seemed to run out of questions for Castiel or been put off by his often brief and concise single statement answers. In fact, they seemed to spur him on.

It was perplexing... and delightful.

Castiel had never felt so comfortable and accepted before. If being Dean's friend meant that he could have this same feeling all the time, then he was going to hold on to their friendship greedily and never let go.

That same sense of peace also came with the ever-present cold sense of fear. Getting too attached to Dean was dangerous. He couldn't keep him.

Some day, probably very soon, Dean was going to meet a beautiful, kind, perfect woman who would steal him away to be a boyfriend. A husband. A father.

And Castiel would be all alone. As if watching the bright warmth of their smiling faces from outside a window where he stood in the dark cold of night.

Would he be strong enough to try to hold on to their friendship, even then?

He was trapped on an emotional roller-coaster, one second almost giddy remembering his day with Dean, the next moment almost trembling with the urge to run away before he was inevitably hurt.

That's when his door flew open to reveal the short beaming figure of his brother.

"Cassie! I've been stuck in meetings all morning, but don't you worry! I am here now." He shut the door behind him and bounced forward, throwing himself sideways into one of the cushioned chairs in front of Castiel's desk. He balanced an enormous bag of jelly beans on his stomach and said merrily, "So, tell me ALL the obscene details." He wiggled his eyebrows, grinning eagerly.

Castiel frowned at his brother. "Thank you, Gabriel. You just reminded me of an important email I needed to send." He typed quickly and hit send, while his brother responded.

"Oooohhh! Is it to Dean? Did you need to thank him for the wild day of sex and cuddling? Be careful, baby brother. The computer geeks monitor those emails. Your gonna make the ears of some poor IT guy down in the basement burn. Or you may become a celebrity amongst them. Hmm. I wonder if they ever read any of my risqué emails?" His voice trailed off as he began to wonder to himself, "Well, probably not. I'd be arrested by now if anyone was reading them…."

Castiel sighed, "Gabriel, if you don't need anything, then please leave. I have a lot of work to do."

"Aww, don't be like that, Cassie! I just want to know if my little 'nudge' worked out. Did he at least stay for the omelets?" He popped a handful of the jelly beans into his mouth, chewing happily.

Castiel reigned his irritation in before choosing his words carefully, "Gabriel. Dean is only a friend. We watched a few movies. That is ALL that happened. I've already asked you to respect my wishes and not get involved in this. You chose to ignore my requests." There was a ding on his computer signaling that he had received a message. He glanced at the message, then smirked at his brother with eyes of cold steel. His low voice rumbled dangerously, "Did you think that there would be no consequences for your actions? That I would allow you to get away with it?"

Gabriel stared at his little brother, recognizing his tone. Cassie was up to something. He was using his Think Tank voice, the one that meant somebody was going to get a nasty surprise. In this case, it could only be Gabriel, himself.

"Cassie. What have you done." He stood up swiftly, bag of jelly beans gripped tightly in his clenched hand, eyes wide on his brother's. "Come on, bro. It was just a little call to a friend for a ladder. That's the good thing about having macho mechanics for friends, right? Of course he would be the first person I think to ask. It wasn't like I orchestrated your damn cat getting stuck up there in the first place! " He tried for a chuckle, but it rolled out more like a whimper. Castiel didn't respond.

"What did you do, Cassie? Please tell me you didn't call the health inspector to shut down Tanya's Titty Parlor again?" He leaned forward, trying to read Castiel's face. "Did you post my pimply teenage pictures on Facebook?" Castiel remained absolutely calm, face not giving away anything.

"Damn it, Cassie. I am just trying to help you out. All I want is for my baby brother to be happy! I am not the bad guy here!"

Finally, Castiel met his panicked brother's eye and said, "I know, Gabe. And I understand you want me to find someone to be happy with. But, I told you not to get involved with me and Dean. I won't ask again." Castiel turned back to his computer as it dinged again. His smile made Gabriel's heart thump with dread. His mind raced through every possible way that Castiel could get back at him for his stunt. It was a long list.

"In case you are wondering," Castiel stated off-hand as he typed on his computer, "The email I needed to send out was to Ruby." The sound of Gabriel's sharp inhale filled the otherwise silent office. Castiel continued, feeling a small pang of sympathy for his brother, but forcing himself to ignore the feeling, "It was directions, telling her where your stash your Bengawan Solo Pineapple Tarts."

The sound that came from Gabriel wasn't human. It was a pathetic moan of pure terror. His face dropped into a mask of unearthly horror. "No- Cassie, God, no!" he half-choked, half-sobbed.

He turned too fast for the door, tripping clumsily over his own feet as the bag of jelly beans dropped from his hand and spilled across the floor. He landed hard. Unfazed, he scrambled up and bolted, fumbling with door handle before darting through.

Castiel sat at his desk, eyes staring sadly in the direction his brother had fled.

It hurt to do this to his brother. As much of a pain that Gabriel was, he really did try hard to make Castiel happy.

But he was putting Castiel's friendship with Dean at risk with his meddling.

And Castiel couldn't allow that.

…-^o^-…

A woman sat with her son in a booth at an almost empty BigGerson's in a small Nevada town.

She was there to celebrate his birthday. Tyler was thirteen today, but his severe autism meant that he was behaving like an unruly four year old. He had just slammed his elbow into his drink, causing it to slosh across the tiled floor. With it on the floor were several other items that Tyler had bumped or hit in his excitement throughout the meal.

The woman usually avoided public as Tyler grew up. Many bad experiences with upset patrons and the restaurant managements had led to her spending as much time as possible locked in the security of their small home, where mean words and stares couldn't hurt them.

But Tyler had been wanting to go to the restaurant for so long, the constant stream of happy faces in the commercial ads giving the chain the same manic appeal as a disney land.

And Tyler had seemed so genuinely thrilled when she finally caved against her better judgement and decided to risk taking him.

Now, with her face red, she proudly and defiantly used a wad of napkins to soak up the mess on the floor. The thin waitress had run over with a mop, kindly insisting that she could clean it, and that it was no problem. Accidents happened.

The woman allowed herself just one shamed glance around the small eatery. There were four other groups of people seated around. One was an elderly couple who were casting pitying glances at her. Another was a small family, the two children staring obviously at Tyler, as the parents tried to keep them from pointing and asking loud questions. The other two groups were younger looking couples, pointedly not noticing the drama a few table over.

A small movement of color caught her attention. There was a final man seated in the very far corner. He looked old, his clothing clean but used. His face was plain, mostly covered by a thick dark brown and gray beard. His blue eyes were staring at her with an indescribable look. She couldn't tell if he was angry, or sad, or just strung out on drugs.

She turned quickly back to Tyler, who was fussing noisily, upset at being ignored by his mother. She put on her brightest smile and gave her attention back to the only thing that really mattered-her perfect son.

Several minutes, and many more accidents later, the woman asked for her bill, exhaustion wearing on her.

The manager himself came over. The woman watched as the waitress, cashier, and several cooks stared from kitchens.

_Oh, no, she thought, preparing herself for the familiar shame of being asked not to return with her son._

Instead, the manager smiled at her warmly and said, "Ma'am, another patron has already paid your bill for you. He asked us to pass you this note." He handed the note to her, scribbled on the back of an old receipt.

It read: 'God only gives special children to special people. Keep your head up.'

She immediately turned to look over to where the old man had been sitting earlier. The seat was empty.

…-^o^-…

"Alright. Everybody settle down." Sam called out to the group seated around the corner of the Road House. When the chatter of conversation died down, he continued. "We all know why we are here today, right?" There was a murmur of assent, and a loud 'Whoot!' from Gabriel. Sam glanced around the crowd. Everyone was here, it looked like. All of their friends, plus a few from Castiel's camp. The auto shop team was present, minus Dean, of course. A few of the police officers. Even Rufus, though he seemed more comfortable sitting with Bobby and Ellen in the back and emptying his mug of beer.

Gabriel had shown up, bringing Charlie, who was seated excitedly beside Jess.

Altogether, it's a nice turnout. We should be able to pull this off if we all work together, Sam thought. He cleared his throat and began. "Ash, you took care of Dean, right? No chance he'll find his way here and wander in?"

"Im-pos-si-ble." Ash called out, grinning. "I did a little subtle fiddling with his car, so he won't be leaving the shop any time soon." There were several head nods in the crowd. Dean loved his 'Baby', an older model black Impala. The slightest hiccup had him in a panic, trying to trace the cause, while murmuring sweet, loving words to the lifeless metal.

Sam continued, "And, we all have had a chance to meet Gabriel, Castiel's older brother, right?. Hey, Gabe, could you stand up for us so everyone can see you?"

"I am standing!" Gabriel shouted with a huff from somewhere behind where Garth and Jo were sitting.

Sam floundered, forgetting what he had been about to say, "Oh. My bad. Um, yeah. So, Ash was able to get into the ADA building and ask Gabe to join us today, so, that's great." He ended weakly.

"Oh, yeah! I wanted to ask how you managed that?" Gabriel's disembodied voice floated from behind the crowd.

Ash, turned in his direction, grinning. "Well, at first, I tried strolling in and politely asking the ladies at the front desk if I could see you. But, when security turned me away, I had to go Mission Impossible on them, crawling through the ventilation ducts, breaking into the security room, and hacking into the system. You know, plan B. I planted a nasty little virus, then visited the main security dude's office. They were a lot nicer the second time I asked."

There was an alarmed silence, and several of the officers were looking around as if desperately trying to pretend like they hadn't just heard that. Rufus just took a somber swig from his beer, bringing his hand up to his forehead to massage his growing head ache.

Sam scrambled desperately to fill the nervous silence and get back on track.

"So, um, Dean has been having a pretty rough time these last few months. I know most of us remember the, uh, proposal." The sound of feet shifting and even a few grunts and hisses could be heard. "And, most of us have also heard about Lisa's recent engagement." The angry noises were a bit louder this time. "I know we all have pretty strong feelings about that, but, uh, we need to stay focused on what's really important here. And that's Dean." Several assents were heard. "So, I think most of us have noticed Dean's, er…"

He knew this part was going to be tough. How do you describe that someone, who is by all accounts straight, appears to suddenly have an interest in a guy. There really hadn't been anything witnessed aside from a few heated looks and nervous smiles. They really didn't have much to go off of here.

"Well, let's just all agree that Dean and his new friend, Castiel are…um, showing signs of 'interest' in each other." It sounded stupid, even to him.

Fortunately, Gabriel chose this time to contribute his opinions. The short man had darted forward, and stood beside Sam now. He smiled at the crowd, clearly comfortable with talking in front of large groups. "So, I understand this is Dean's first man-crush. Smart guy chose well- my baby brother is quite the catch. Now, many of you are probably worried that the feelings may not be mutual. Rest assured, Cassie's not the most obvious romantic on the planet, but he has definitely got it bad for ole' Dean. And, I don't really know Dean, but I'm guessing the stuttering and bedroom eyes are usually a sign that he's into somebody?" A quick glance around the group showed many heads nodding and a few mouths covered to hide chuckles. "Well, then. Safe to say the two are off to a solid start. Now, I have been briefed about Deano's recent proposal mishap. Castiel is also recently single, due to a shit-bag, ass-kissing, lying piece of worthless-"

"Ok!" Sam interrupted what was going to be the second verbal assassination of Castiel's ex-boyfriend that night. Sam, Gabe, and Ash had already had a quick discussion before everyone else arrived, to get their details together.

"So, the reason that we asked all of you here today, is to go over exactly how to approach this. Obviously, we don't want to force Dean and Castiel into uncomfortable situations that might scare them off." Sam cast a quick glare at the pouting Gabriel, who had brought in a binder filled with plans for how to arrange forced meetings and romantic set-ups. "We need to make sure that the two of them don't feel pressured, but still manage to have every opportunity possible to encourage their feelings. What we are asking is that all of you work to 'subtly arrange' for them to be around each other as much as possible. If it works, and they end up deciding that they like each other and want to proceed with the relationship-great. If they end up deciding that they aren't actually interested, than we all just take a step back, and let it go. Does everyone understand their roles?"

There was a chorus of 'Yes's' and a few 'Hell Yeah's'.

"Alright people," Gabriel shouted clapping his hands together. "Tomorrow evening Castiel is going to be coming here to meet everyone. Put on your game faces and remember: Both of these guys are a bit slow in the romance department, so you may need to get creative."

* * *

Bengawan Solo Pineapple Tarts are my unicorn. Can I get an 'Amen' from the Singapore readers?! Anyway, for the story: super-delicious, practically impossible to get in the U.S.

Some of you are probably like, 'Hey, did anyone else notice that extremely sweet and uplifting story that was kind of randomly stuck in the middle there? Anyone? Am I losing my shit?" No, you aren't going crazy- it's part of the story. Can you guess what's up? : D

(BTW: That note was actually left under real and similar circumstances at a diner in the U.S., so no credit to me for borrowing it.)

Next up: Castiel freaks out.

Castiel fulfills Anna's request.

Dean jumps to conclusions.

And Benny...well, Benny makes a poor decision.


	14. Chapter 14-Desperate Dive Drama

Castiel was quickly becoming a nervous wreck as the Tuesday progressed.

He had panicked the night before, realizing that he wasn't sure what to wear to the Road House. His usual business attire seemed too stuffy to be hanging out in a bar with Dean and his friends.

After nearly three hours of searching through his closet and drawers, throwing the contents across the floor, he had finally tried on what he felt was a suitable outfit. After spending another twenty minutes sitting uncomfortably on the edge of his bed in the outfit and nervously clenching his phone, he finally sent a short text out to Charlie.

**CAS: Quick favor?**

**CHARLIE: What's up, boss? : )**

**CAS: Can I send a picture of an outfit? I need an opinion.**

**CHARLIE: Go for it!**

Castiel rose and stood awkwardly in front of his standing mirror. After several failed tries of odd angles and cut-off limbs, he managed to snap a relatively nice photo. He sent it.

**CHARLIE: I called the fire department…**

**CHARLIE: …cuz your so freakin' hot!**

**CHARLIE: So, what's the big occasion?**

Castiel blushed, regretting having to ask for someone's opinion.

**CAS: Just hanging out with some new friends tomorrow. I want to make a good impression.**

**CHARLIE: You'll do great! They'd have to be crazy not to like you! ; D**

**Castiel blushed even harder, hoping Charlie was right.**

**CAS: Thank you, Charlie. See you tomorrow.**

Castiel had tried to sleep after the text conversation, but his mind was going full speed.

_What if he was overdressed? Or underdressed? What if he said something wrong? What if they didn't like him? If they didn't like him, would Dean decide he didn't like him anymore either?_

Castiel had finally fallen into a fitful sleep.

Now, it was late afternoon, almost time to meet Anna to take care of the favor she had asked him for.

That was another nerve wracking event he had to deal with today. He had almost declined to help her. He kept trying to explain that deception was almost impossible for him. But, she had been so upset and sure that they could pull it off successfully that he had eventually caved. It wouldn't take too long, he figured. And he should be able to make it to the Road House on time.

They had already agreed to go in Castiel's vehicle, so he suggested Anna just park at the Road House, so he could drop her off afterwards and head straight inside.

Everything would go smoothly, and in just a short while he would be with Dean again.

He picked Anna up from the Road House parking lot at four-thirty. She climbed into his car nervously, and repeatedly shifted in her seat as he drove. Castiel felt the need to put her mind at ease, despite the fact that he should be one who was nervous about what they were about to do.

"It will be fine, Anna. I'm sure she won't suspect anything. We can just do exactly as we planned."

Anna turned her wide eyes on him and gave him a small, grateful smile. "I'm sure your right. I just…I'm not sure exactly what she remembers or how much of it she heard. Plus, she's got a real knack for seeing right through people. I'm just afraid she is going to realize you're not him and be upset with me."

Castiel frowned, but offered, "I doubt she would be upset with you if she finds out. She's your mother. If anything, she'll probably accuse me of manipulating you into lying and order me to stay away from you." Anna's smile brightened just a little bit.

They arrived at the hospital, and made their way through the somber hall ways.

Castiel cringed inwardly, trying not to show it. Some of his earliest memories had been of being in hospitals. He could vaguely recall the beep of the machines, and the sickening smell of medicines. His mother's frail frame, lying with tubes and needles stuck in her pale, bruised arms. And, Gabriel, sitting like a statue, eyes locked onto her worn face as his small hand gently rubbed hers. Gabriel had only been ten years old at the time, Castiel barely four. But, they had both sat quietly in the expensive room, neither wanting to be away from their mother. In case she finally woke up and they weren't there. But, she had never woken back up.

Castiel felt the familiar sick weight in his stomach. He had barely had a chance to meet his mother. He couldn't even remember her face anymore without pictures. Gabriel had dealt with it the worse. He had been very attached to their mother.

It had to be much worse, knowing your parent, and loving them for so many years, then having to watch them die slowly in a hospital room. That was the real reason Castiel hadn't been able to turn Anna's request down. What would he have done to put his mother's mind at rest when she was so ill?

Anything. He would have done absolutely anything.

They finally arrived outside the room. Anna cast Castiel a quick glance, forcing a nervous smile that she had probably meant to be encouraging. Then, with a small knock, she entered, Castiel following closely.

…-^o^-…

Dean knew that he was acting strange.

Benny, Ash, and even Bobby were sending him worried looks, before quickly snapping their eyes away as if they hadn't been looking. It had been going on all day. It was obvious that Dean freaking the fuck out.

He was extremely excited about tonight. Monday had seemed to drag on forever, and he barely managed to get through his work. All he could think about these last two days was Castiel.

The way Castiel stared at him with his intense gaze as Dean spoke, as if wanting to hear and understand every syllable.

The way Castiel's blue eyes lit up with warmth and friendly humor whenever Dean made a joke.

The way Castiel's deep voice rumbled gently from those soft-looking lips, filling the air with a soft thunder that sent shivers through Dean body.

The ease and fluid grace with which Castiel moved, sat, ate and even slept.

Slept. Yes, Dean remembered exactly how relaxed and warm Castiel had felt, nuzzled tightly against him. The soft heat of his breath as those lips rested only centimeters from Dean's neck. The thick fluff of his crazy mess of hair tickling Dean's cheek.

It was no surprise Dean was hop-scotching through dozens of different feelings.

Castiel was extremely attractive.

Castiel was also apparently wealthier than many small countries, which Dean was unsure how to handle. Cas didn't act like he was rich. If anything, Dean would have pegged him for a penny-pincher.

The seductive image of the blue-eyed man was showing up far too often, visiting Dean nightly. And daily. So, pretty much constantly.

Which was why Dean was practically stalking Ash, but panicking and ditching the man every time he asked Dean if he needed something.

His odd behavior was being met with a surprising amount of patience from the other men at the shop. Instead of approaching Dean or demanding he knock that shit off, they kept a respectful distance and pretended that there was nothing weird going on.

Dean was too grateful to be suspicious.

He really wanted to talk to Ash. Since Ash was openly bi-sexual, Dean figured that he would be able to explain what these feelings for Cas were. Maybe it wasn't actually attraction. Maybe Ash would hear what Dean described and immediately point to some obvious alternative, like lack of sex or a thing for blue eyes.

Dean couldn't tell for sure what the hell he was feeling, but it wasn't normal. His pulse began racing at just the thought of Cas. His brain seemed to slow down exponentially whenever they were together. Every move the man made mesmerized him. When Cas spoke to him, Dean was almost too lost in his happiness of being noticed to even hear what Cas was saying.

It was like all of the sudden he just turned stupid.

Dean didn't know what that meant, but it was terrifying.

Dean prided himself on his smooth social skills and ability to think fast. Cas took all of that away with just one of his small smiles.

If Ash couldn't figure out what was wrong with Dean, than who could?

But, so far Dean couldn't even figure out what he was going to ask Ash. He didn't want to just throw out the word 'gay'. Because, maybe that wasn't what this was. Maybe he was just over-reacting, and he would look dumb if he jumped immediately to thinking he was gay. That would be embarrassing. No, he needed to approach this cautiously. No reason to alarm everyone with random guesses or weird declarations about liking another guy.

As the end of the workday rolled around, Dean had still not been able to figure out how to ask Ash his questions. All he had managed was to make a spectacle of himself in front of his friends.

Dean felt defeated, but at least he would be able to see Cas again in just a few short hours. He perked up, grateful that his nervous thoughts had managed to keep his attention away from watching the clock. Time had flown by quickly.

Dean waved a cheery good-bye to Benny and Ash as he hopped over to his 'baby' and started her up. He released a grateful sigh as she kicked on without incident. Yesterday, she had refused to start up, leading Dean to spend a frantic four hours troubleshooting the source of the failure. Fortunately, Ash had dropped by late in the evening to pick something up. He offered to give Dean a hand, and within five minutes the Impala was roaring away like nothing had ever been wrong. Dean had wanted to kick himself for not being able to fix it on his own. But, hell, it wasn't like he was the one with the fancy degree from MIT.

Dean arrived home to shower and change. It took longer than usual to groom himself and choose his clothes. And that fine. Nothing wrong with wanting to look good. A man should always take pride in his appearance. And if the shirt he chose happened to be the same as one of the band posters Castiel had prominently featured in his apartment, then it certainly wasn't because he wanted Cas to notice him.

…-^o^-…

Castiel was ready to bolt.

Anna's mother had not been what he was expecting. For starters, she looked nothing like Anna. Apparently, Missouri Milton had adopted Anna when she was just a small child. Where Anna had extremely pale skin and a slight, birdlike frame, Missouri had darker skin tone, and a robust frame.

The differences didn't stop there. Missouri also spoke her mind with a sharp tongue and a piercing eyes that had been trained on Castiel since they arrived.

Anna hadn't seemed to find anything strange about her mother's behavior, or her pointed looks to Castiel. Anna had spoke gently, explaining to her mother that she had finally brought by her boyfriend. Missouri had immediately begun drilling Castiel.

"So, this is the young man who my baby has been gushing about for the last five months, huh?" She didn't bother hiding her assessment. She frowned.

"Well, I suppose you do have blue eyes. They don't exactly twinkle with humor like my girl described, though." She huffed.

Anna's face flushed. "Momma, you remember that? I…I thought you were under most of the times I visited."

Missouri turned to her and snapped haughtily, "Under? Child, that was me trying to sleep. And here you come, sitting there chatting for hours non-stop about this perfect man of yours. I thought for sure I'd wake up the next day to find a ring on your finger. You made it sound like you were ready to pick out a wedding dress, girl!"

Anna's face was almost the color of her hair and she was toon mortified to look at Castiel. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Anna. Clearly she had been caught up in the excitement of young love when she was visiting her mother those few months. It would have been sweet and a little funny if it hadn't ended so sadly.

Castiel tried to remember Benny from his short visit to the Auto Shop. His mind pulled up a a stout man with a pair of ice blue eyes and a friendly smile. His southern drawl had rolled surprisingly soft off his tongue for such a tough looking giant. Altogether, he had seemed a decent sort of guy to Castiel.

And Dean seemed to like him. Extra points there.

Anna was floundering for a suitable comment for her mother, but Missouri didn't bother to wait. "Child, why don't you do your momma a favor and go on down to the cafeteria. I have been craving some of their special Clam Chowder like nobody's business all day."

Anna had been quick to stand, ever willing to do a favor, but she seemed to hesitate and glance worriedly at Castiel.

"Well, girl? Am I going to have to roll my aching body out of this bed and do it myself?" Anna jumped a bit, then exited, casting one final look back at Castiel filled with a desperate plea.

Castiel was alone with Missouri.

The woman turned to stare at him blatantly, casting her sharp eyes from his head all the way down to his shoes and back again.

At last, she pulled her eyes up to his and said skeptically, "Listen honey. I know people. I get a feel for them, you know. I can spot a lie a mile away- especially from my little baby, there. And there are two things I can tell from the two of you. One thing I know for damn sure, is you aint the 'Benny' she was chatterin' on and on about while I was stuck in this bed. That girl told me everything but the man's credit card number and shoe size. Child must think I'm knockin' on Heaven's door if she tried to pass you off as her perfect boyfriend." Castiel managed not to cringe in shame. Missouri didn't even slow down.

"The second thing I am damn sure about, is that you are as gay as a sunny day in May. So, who in the hell are you, and why are you here instead of this Benny-fellow?" At this Castiel did flinch, eyes snapping up from where they were trained in embarrassment on the floor. Missouri was looking at him with pursed lips and a cocked eyebrow, waiting.

Castiel tried to mumble an excuse for their attempted deception, "Um, Anna… Anna wasn't sure what to do. The guy, Benny, he, uh…didn't work out. I work with Anna, so she asked me to be here as a personal favor." Castiel finished lamely.

Missouri stared at him closely, before slowly nodding her head. "I swear that child is trifling." The older woman huffed in irritation. "All she cares about is pleasing other people. As if I would be upset about her break up. I never even met the man in the first place, why should I be upset about it?"

She stared hard at Castiel again, "You know her mystery man?"

Castiel looked away and shifted his feet. He knew he wasn't going to be getting anything past this lady. "I, um, met him briefly once."

There was silence, and Castiel glanced at Missouri. She raised her eyebrows, clearly waiting for him to continue.

"He, well, he seemed…nice. He was pretty friendly. Um, I don't really know much else about him, though. Anna really is the best person to ask."

Missouri humphed. "Doubt it. That girl is so drunk on love for the man, I wouldn't be able to get a lick of sense out of her." She frowned and asked, "What happened then? Why did they suddenly turn the hoses on their relationship?"

"Anna may have, er, seen him being platonically affectionate with another woman." Castiel answered awkwardly, praying Anna would return to explain the details herself.

"Hmmm. Well, obviously she overreacted. I don't suppose she actually confronted him to ask about the situation?"

"...I don't think so, ma'am."

Missouri sighed heavily, rolling her eyes heavenward, as if asking why her child was so daft. "Alright, son. Looks like you and me are going to have to fix this." She narrowed her eyes as Castiel prepared to protest. He wisely shut up. "Now. What I want you to do is send that boy my way. I'll have a little talk with him about how lucky he is to have my baby's attention, and set him straight. You," she fixed Castiel with a steely glare full of threat, "will pretend like this little lie worked out perfectly. Got it?"

Castiel mumbled a 'Yes, ma'am'.

A few minutes of idle conversation later, Anna appeared with a confused look on her face. "Momma, the people downstairs say they have never served Clam Chowder. Are you sure you are feeling al-"

"That's just fine, baby. I'm too tired to eat now anyway. You and your blue-eyed boyfriend get on out here and let me rest, will you?" She sent a sly wink over to Castiel, who smiled back weakly.

They left immediately after that. Anna was so relieved that their plan had worked that she spent the entire ride back to the Road House chatting openly for the first time about how grateful she was to Castiel, and how sweet and kind her sickly mother always was to her. Castiel did his best to act natural, despite being uncomfortable for the amount of deception he was being talked into doing lately.

When they finally arrived at the Road House, Castiel jumped out quickly, already over fifteen minutes late. Anna collected her things and exited more slowly. Castiel was about to bid her a hurried good-bye and race inside, but Anna turned to him and threw her arms around his neck, pecking him quickly on the cheek.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Novak. It means a lot to me to see my mother happy when she is so ill." She pulled away and gave him a gentle, but warm smile, then walked away to her own car across the large lot.

Castiel stared after her for a moment, feelings mixed between guilt and pity. Anna was a sweet girl. She deserved to have her happy ending. If Missouri could manage to pull it off, then Castiel should try to do what the older woman asked, right?

He pulled his attention back, realizing that he was zoning out when he could already be inside, with Dean.

_Dean_. Castiel smiled to himself, trying to contain a shiver of happy excitement as he made his way to the entrance.

…-^o^-…

A flash of the setting sunlight on red hair caught Benny's eye as he walked past parked cars to the entrance of the Road House. For a short second, his mind flew excitedly to the thought that it might be 'her', his beautiful red-haired angel. His common sense shut the the thought down quickly. It wasn't the first time that Benny had gotten his hopes up that his missing beauty was nearby.

He felt a sharp pain in his heart, remembering the concert. He hadn't noticed her until he stepped up from behind his drums to take his bow, the familiar mane of red pulling his eyes to a table close to the front.

And there she had been, wide brown eyes full of pain and fear. He'd made a dash for her immediately, mind racing excitedly at his good luck.

He wasn't sure what had happened to her. She had just not been there at their coffee shop all of sudden. He had waited for weeks at the same time, mind running through terrible scenarios. Beating himself up for talking so much, and never letting her tell him about herself. Hell, he didn't even know where in the massive ADA building she worked. He was an idiot.

But, now she was right in front of him, frozen as she watched him make his way over to her table.

But, he had barely managed a happy 'Hello' and to ask her how she was over the loud sounds of the exiting crowd, when Jo had popped up next to him, wrapping her small arms around him and shouting about how fantastic he had been. He really needed to have a discussion with that girl about boundaries, but he just pulled her off himself casually, and turned back to his lovely angel. And she was gone. He had barreled through the thick crowd of patrons, running for the door to try and catch her, but he couldn't manage to break through quickly enough. He lost her. Again.

Now, even knowing that he would be disappointed, he couldn't resist staring at the woman getting into her car. Hope was a dangerous thing, he reminded himself.

Then, as she buckled herself in and turned the vehicle on, he saw her face.

_Anna._

Then, she was driving, making a turn to leave the parking lot. He tried to call out to her, but she didn't see him. He was desperate. His mind was shouting at him to stop her, quick. Do anything.

He ran, sprinting to catch her car. She was speeding up to head down the main road, passing now in front of the parking lot. He didn't have time to think.

He raced out into the road in front of her car.

He had just enough time to see her startled eyes meet his in recognition, and to realize that he was an absolute, undeniable idiot, before her car struck him.

He rolled back from the force of the blow, landing hard against the asphalt. He lay there for several moments, dazed. The sound of several cars stopping and a few shouts could be heard. The she was there, already crying and asking him if he alright. Benny smiled up at her and gave her the cheesiest line on the planet, "I must have died and gone to heaven, because you look just like an angel, sweetheart."

…-^o^-…

Dean had been waiting with anxious excitement, having arrived almost a full hour early at the Road House. By the time six o'clock rolled around, he had already left the rest of the group and was standing outside by the entrance for Castiel. _And that wasn't weird or anything_, he assured himself.

He waited impatiently as the time ticked by, realizing that he had never gotten Cas's number. _What if he wouldn't be able to make it? Dean would have no way of knowing. _

By fifteen minutes past, Dean was practically a pacing wreck.

That's when he spotted the yellow 1994 Ford Mustang GT Coupe pulling into the large lot.

_Nice car_, Dean paused in appreciation from his frantic pacing to note.

The driver's side door opened, and Dean mouth split into a wide grin as Castiel climbed out.

_Hell, yeah._ Dean thought as he quickly checked his outfit and hair, then stopped himself in embarrassment. It wasn't like this was a freakin' date.

Castiel moved to the opposite side, where the passenger door opened, and suddenly a pretty red head was stepping out.

Dean's smile dropped fast. His mind sputtered a few times, before finally throwing _out, 'She's probably just a friend he invited to meet everyone.'_

The she hugged him and gave him a quick kiss.

Dean stared. It felt like the rug had been pulled out beneath his feet.

Cas had a girlfriend?

_Of course Cas has a girlfriend_, Dean's brain suddenly kicked back on, racing at lightning speed, _And that's…fine. Yeah, perfectly normal. He's just a normal guy, with a normal girlfriend. Yep, a guy with looks and money like Cas probably never had to worry about girlfriends_. Dean tried to ignore the unwanted emotions that were assaulting his mind.

So, why did it hurt so much to finally see her. The woman who Cas slept with in his big bed with all the pillows. The woman Cas made omelets for. The woman Cas snuggled with on his comfy couch.

The woman he jerked off thinking about in his restroom at night.

Dean forced himself to look away. This was good that Dean got a reality check. Who knows what other stupid feelings would keep him awake at night if he hadn't gotten solid confirmation that Cas was straight and taken.

_Yeah, it was a good thing._

The woman was starting to walk away from the Road House, Castiel was staring after her.

Dean shook himself once, repeating that this was all just fine, and put on his familiar mask of unaffected happiness, then turned to head inside.

* * *

Next up: How do Dean and Castiel's friends plan to help them out?

Awkward eavesdropping.

A (not-so-private) confession.

Cuteness. Loads of it.


	15. Chapter 15-Eavesdropping

Castiel had to take several calming breaths before he moved to enter the Road House.

_This is not a date_. He kept repeating in his head. _Just a chance to meet Dean and his friends. Nothing to be worried about._

He walked through the front doors into the dim lighting of the Road House for the second time. Once again he was awed by the layout of the place. It was large, this time with the back bay closed off. It was almost full again. Talking and laughing people packed into booths and chairs. Playing pool at one of the three pool tables off to one side. Playing darts. Many dancing along to country music blaring from the speakers. It was a shock to the system after coming in from the quiet calm of the parking lot.

Castiel felt so out of place in the environment- so lost in the sea of happy, shouting faces and moving bodies that he almost turned around to escape.

He didn't belong here, with these people.

They were like Dean. Glowing Social Butterflies.

Castiel was more like a Social Bat.

His tense body took a small step back, preparing to dart back out the doors.

Then Dean was there.

His green eyes smiling as his hand landed on Castiel's shoulder, leading him forward. "There you are! Everyone was starting to wonder if you were going to make it." He gave Castiel a quick wink. "Don't look so nervous, Cas."

They finally made it past the crowd to a corner filled with happy faces. All of the sudden their conversations stopped and all eyes were on Castiel. He stiffened, unsure how to greet Dean's friends. Dean must have felt it, because there was a gentle squeeze from Dean's hand on his shoulder.

"Guys, this Castiel Novak. Cas, these are the guys. Everyone play nice, alright." Dean beamed.

And suddenly everybody was up and enthusiastically shaking Castiel's hands. They said hellos, introduced themselves, told him what great things they had heard about him. Castiel was completely thrown off. He had never been so welcomed by a group before. He began to feel the tight knot of anxiousness relax in his stomach.

Sam gave him a hard slap on the back, Jess at his side. The tall man was beaming at Castiel, "Great to see you again! We weren't sure if you were going to make it. Dean was losing it. We almost had to sedate him just to get him to sit still."

Dean gave an uncomfortable chuckle that was negated by the narrow-eyed glare he threw Sam.

Sam ignored him. "Go ahead and have a seat, Castiel."

There was a brief shuffling of chairs and feet, and somehow Castiel found himself and Dean wedged closely next to one another. Dean's left side was pressed warmly against Castiel's right.

Castiel tried not to notice it, but every time Dean shifted or leaned to say something into Castiel's ear, he felt the ripple of heat and muscle. There was no way to move his own chair further away. Ash, who was on Castiel's left, was pressed in too tightly, despite the fact that he was leaning away from Castiel to speak to someone else. Dean's neighbor, who Castiel recognized as his tow driver, Adam, was doing the same. The strange circumstances of their seating meant that even though both men were effectively trapped together at a huge table full of people, they were left alone to the privacy of their own conversation.

For a while, Dean chatted merrily, giving Castiel the low-down on several of his friends. Sam was across the large table from him, arm thrown around Jess. Castiel couldn't be sure, but it seemed like they were both trying to sneak subtle peeks at him and Dean. It was probably just Castiel's imagination.

The small, blond waitress, who Castiel remembered behaving oddly at the concert, appeared with several pitchers of drinks. Dean introduced her to Castiel as Jo.

Castiel shook her hand.

"Wow! You have got some incredible blue eyes! Don't you think his eyes are amazing, Dean?" Jo asked with an innocent smile.

Both Dean and Castiel flushed at the question.

Dean took a few moments of stuttering before managing, "Um, yeah, his eyes are nice." He tried to look anywhere but at Castiel as he spoke. Castiel felt his cheeks grow warmer at Dean's compliment, and tried to look interested in his drink.

"And your hair is adorable, too! I love how ruffled it looks! Dean, Castiel's hair is awesome, huh?" She blinked wide-eyed at the question.

Castiel's hand immediately shot up to his try and smooth his unruly hair down, but Dean's strong hand darted out, catching his wrist quickly. He let go just as quickly, and Castiel met his eyes in surprise.

"Don't, uh, don't worry about it. I, um, …it looks fine." Dean mumbled, turning away to take a long drink from his beer. Castiel stared in surprise, noticing Dean's ears turn a deep shade of red. His hand tingled where Dean had gripped it.

Jo hadn't seem to pick on their embarrassment. She continued, "We are all so glad to finally meet you, Castiel. Dean has been talking non-stop about you since your visit to the Auto Shop. It's been nothing but 'Cas-this' and 'Cas-that'. He is practically obses-"

"Thank you, Jo!" Dean cut her off loudly, now clearly embarrassed, Castiel noted. "Don't you have a job to do?" He glared at her.

She smiled widely, and gave Castiel a quick wave, before hopping away.

Castiel fidgeted with his hands, unable to forget what Jo had said.

Dean had been talking non-stop about him, ever since the time at the auto shop. Dean liked his eyes. Dean didn't mind his wild hair.

Beside him, Dean was silent, shifting uncomfortably. After a few moments, he cleared his throat, "Um. Sorry. Jo has a tendency to uh, talk too much, you know? She's actually really nice."

"Oh, no, I like her. She seems very…nice." Castiel murmured, still basking in his happiness that Dean apparently talked about him often.

Suddenly, the entire table was jumping up from their seats, Ash pulling Castiel from his chair, and several others ushering Dean up as well.

"Dance time!" Ash shouted gleefully over his shoulder to Castiel.

Castiel tried to dig his heels down to stop Ash's firm grip from pulling him onto the dance floor, as he attempted to shout over the noise, "Oh, no! Really! I, uh, I really can't dance. I'll just, I'll just sit this one out!" It was no good, Ash didn't seem to hear him. His grip just seemed to tighten around Castiel arm.

Castiel flashed a panicked look back, towards Dean, who was also being herded along. He looked confused by his friends behavior, but significantly less alarmed than Castiel. He met Castiel's terrified eyes, and smiled, throwing Castiel a thumbs-up.

He was pulled into the middle of the dance floor, where he froze and stood awkwardly as bodies were dancing and shaking around him. Ash turned immediately away from Castiel and began undulating wildly with two women in a super-short blue jean skirts and cowboy boots. The rest of the group did the same, turning away and beginning to dance.

Dean somehow ended up planted directly in front of Castiel, frowning as he looked around at his friends. His brother was dosey-doeing with a laughing Jess a few feet away.

His eyes turned back to Castiel, and he put on a grin. "Come on, Cas. Don't tell me you don't dance." His bright, friendly smile relaxed Castiel a bit.

Dean leaned forward, closer to Castiel, to be heard better. "You probably lose it on the dancefloor like 'Footloose', huh Cas?" Dean laughed loudly as he began to move his feet along to the country beat. "I bet you can drop it like it's hot, right?" He winked.

Castiel couldn't help but laugh out loud at the completely off-the-mark comments, which made Dean smile even brighter.

"I drop it like it's luke-warm, at best." Castiel returned straight-faced to Dean.

Dean blinked a few times before doubling over from laughter. "Cas-haha! Cas, you are fucking hilarious, man! Hahaha!"

Castiel watched as Dean struggled to breath through his laughter. When he finally regained his composure, he grinned back at Castiel. "So, really, what do you know about dancing to country music? Anything?"

Castiel shrugged his shoulders guiltily, enjoying the way Dean's hips and feet were bouncing and swinging along to the music as he spoke.

"Well, it's pretty simple. All you have to do is a basic heel, toe, kick, then spin around in full circle." Castiel watched in amusement as Dean demonstrated for him. "Now you try." Dean suggested.

Castiel shifted nervously. He really wasn't coordinated enough to be trying complex moves like spins on a crowded dance floor. Somebody could lose an eye.

But, he glanced up to Dean expectant face and sighed. Well, there are worse reasons to embarrass himself than to make Dean happy, he thought.

He attempted to imitate Dean's heel, toe, kick. He went extra slow, drawing an amused chuckle from Dean who watched. It was a relatively successful attempt.

Then came the spin. Not wanting to faceplant on his first try, Castiel opted to do a slow turn with several careful steps.

When he made it back around to face Dean, the man had the back of his hand covering his mouth in a poorly-hidden attempt to hide his laughter.

Castiel blushed and resumed his awkward standing position.

"That was, that was great, Cas." Dean managed, nodding his head. "But, uh, maybe a little faster this time?"

Castiel frowned nervously, but nodded back at Dean. _No problem_, he thought. _Just speed it up a bit._

He began. Heel, toe, kick-spin. He made it back around to Dean, with a light-headed grin. Dean gave him a wide smile and thumbs up.

"Almost perfect." Dean beamed as he moved forward, "Now, you just need to keep your hands hands right here, on both sides of your imaginary belt buckle." Suddenly, Dean was too close, leaning down and gripping Castiel's hands in his and placing them firmly along the front of Castiel's stomach.

Castiel stiffened and it seemed like Dean froze, too. Castiel's hands were clasped gently in the warmth of his own.

Dean turned his wide eyes up to meet Castiel's, when without warning, someone bumped into Castiel hard from behind, sending his body slamming into Dean's.

Dean hands flew out, arms wrapping tightly around Castiel's waist as they both staggered. Castiel was thrown completely off balance, forced to grab onto Dean shoulders and shirt helplessly. His face landed against Dean's soft chest. Dean barely managed to catch himself from toppling backwards, taking several staggering steps.

Suddenly, the fast song that had been playing cut off abruptly and was replaced by the slow tune of a completely different song. A deep voice crooned alongside violins, from the middle of a verse:

**And we danced.**

**Out there on that empty hardwood floor.**

**The chairs up and the lights turned way down loooooowwww.**

**The music played, we heeelllddd each other cloooooosssseee.**

Neither man moved for several heart-stopping seconds.

When Castiel finally snapped back, he practically flung himself out of Dean's warm grip. Dean hopped back, too, turning fast in the direction of the now abandoned DJ booth against the wall. He glared suspiciously at it and Castiel heard him saying, "What in the hell?"

He turned back to Castiel, and there eyes met.

…-^o^-…

"What in the Hell?" Dean hissed, looking over the DJ stand. No way that could have been just a coincidence, right?

He turned and met Castiel's wide-eyes. Shit. The guy looked just as shocked and uncomfortable as he was.

His voice rattled out hoarsely, "Um, sorry about that, Cas. I guess they're having some technical issues." The slow music was still playing, and everyone on the dance floor had just decided to go with it. All around them couples were snuggling up into each other's arms. Sam and Jess were attached to each other by their mouths, hands wandering heatedly over each other. Jess reached around grabbing firmly at Sam's ass.

Dean cringed, _Uh. Do NOT need to see that!_ He gave himself a mental shake. _I need to get the hell out of here_.

The memory of Castiel leaning against him, head buried in his chest and arms holding on for dear life had left Dean shaken.

_It was an accident_, he kept saying to himself. _Just a small stumble. _

It didn't matter the cause of the accident. Or the sudden slow music. Or any other odd coincident so far tonight. None of it mattered.

All that Dean could think about was how perfect Cas had felt in his arms for those few seconds. How warm, and right it felt. How it seemed like they were the only two people on that dance floor for a brief while.

Dean had liked it. Hell, Dean had loved it. He hadn't wanted to release Cas.

But, he flashed to the red-haired woman, throwing her thin, pale arms around Cas. Lifting her sharp-heeled shoes to plant a lip-sticked kiss onto his shadowed cheek.

Castiel was hers.

Dean's mood was crashing fast.

Castiel was still watching him patiently. His blue eyes seeming to follow Dean's sudden mood change. A small frown was growing. _Shit_.

He stepped over to Cas, giving a quick pull on his shirt sleeve. "Let's, um, let's move. I need to take a break." Castiel nodded immediately and followed, not bothering to ask why or where to. God, Dean couldn't help but appreciate Cas's calm personality. He was like a rock sitting in the middle of a rushing stream, solid amid the chaos around him. Dependable.

Dean decided to lead them into the back kitchen past the bar, and down a hall. The food service was shut down already for the night, and no one ever came back here after that. It was dark in the hall, and Dean slammed into several carts and things as they came to the entrance of the kitchen area. It did nothing to help his mood.

There were Three large islands in the spacious room, everything from the cabinets to the shelves was a clean stainless steel.

Dean walked forward, stopping at the counter across the room. He kept his back turned to Cas as he tried to reign in his feelings. He wanted to ask about the woman in the parking lot. Make some sort of comment about why Cas didn't ask his girlfriend to join them. But he knew it would come out sounding bitter and catty.

Instead, he just stood there, hoping Castiel wouldn't think he was a drama queen for acting so weird. He wouldn't be wrong if he did.

"Dean?" He almost jumped at the gentle, low tone of Cas's voice from just a few feet behind him.

"Sorry, Cas. I just…I just need a minute." Dean mumbled apologetically. Fuck, he needed to get his shit together.

After a short pause, Castiel's voice asked, "Is it… Is this about Lisa?"

…-^o^-…

Sam was practically carrying Jess, still attached to his lips, as he navigated the dim hall way to the privacy of the back kitchens. If they didn't make it soon, he was probably going to end up taking her right there on the hall way floor. She wasn't helping, hands up his shirt, rubbing heated circles over his chest.

_Shit, he needed them both naked fast._

He made it to the entrance of the kitchen, ready to throw her up against the nearest object, when he realized that the room was already occupied.

By none other than Dean and Castiel.

They both had there back turned to him and Jess, and Castiel was asking Dean, "Is it…Is this about Lisa?"

_Sam and Jess's eyes met for a quick second before they both bolted for cover behind the closest island. Just in time, too, it seemed, as Dean's voice sounded as if he turned to face Cas. They both froze, trying not to make a sound._

"What?" Dean spun around fast, eyes staring in shock at Castiel. "Lisa? What would Lisa have to do with this?" He sounded genuinely confused by the question.

Castiel flushed, worried he had said the wrong thing. "It's just…you seemed upset when the slow music came on. And you were staring at the couples dancing…" Castiel trailed off uncomfortably. He started again, "I, um, remember Garth mentioning someone named Lisa, and you seemed upset about it."

"Oh. Oh, no! No, Cas, that isn't what's up. I'm not thinking about Lisa. She was just, um, well." He fumbled for the right words. It seemed too embarrassing to tell Cas about his train-wreck of a proposal. "Lisa is just my ex. We…ended on a bad note, and I had a tough time dealing with it for a while. I, uh, I don't really want to get into it, you know? It was a bad break up. You probably don't have to deal with those much, huh?"

He looked nervously over at Castiel with a small attempt at a chuckle.

_Sam realized that they wouldn't be able to make it out the main door again. And, if they didn't move and the two men decided to leave, they would pass right by the hiding spot and see them. _

_He turned to Jess, motioning her desperately to start crawling around the island. She nodded, eyes wide, and began moving._

Castiel frowned sadly at Dean, and mumbled, "No, I understand, Dean. I, um, just had a pretty ugly break up myself, so I can, er, sympathize."

Dean looked surprised at the news. "What-seriously? Why the hell would a chick break up with you?" He stared at Castiel as if the idea was insane.

Castiel floundered. He knew this was it. This is the time he absolutely had to tell Dean he was gay. If he didn't then anything from here on was going to be actively lying to him.

He stared at Dean waiting eyes, praying hard as his heart beat nearly out of his chest. Would Dean still look at him the same when he found out? Would his green eyes still be as open and trusting? Was this going to end whatever it was that they had?

_Sam and Jess made it to the corner of the island, and tried to hop quickly around it._

_They froze._

_Ellen and Bobby were crouched low, backs against the island and wide eyes locked in similar terror on Sam and Jess's._

_Ellen was holding her unbuttoned shirt closed with her hand, her hair clearly disheveled._

_The two couples looked away from each other in red-faced embarrassment._

Castiel felt his chest tightening with fear as he managed to squeeze the words out, "I…I overheard my boyfriend saying some really bad stuff about me to a co-worker. That's why I left him to move out here."

The silence following his statement was almost tangible. Castiel felt like it was going to choke him.

Dean's face had frozen. His mind was racing through a million different thoughts and questions so rapidly that he couldn't process a single one.

_Boyfriend. _

_Cas is gay. _

_Cas had a boyfriend. _

_Cas doesn't have a boyfriend anymore. _

_Cas doesn't have a girlfriend._

_The red-head isn't Cas's girlfriend. _

_Cas likes guys. _

_Dean is a guy._

_Holy. Fucking. Shit._

Castiel was watching Dean, the only sign that he was nervous was his hands, clenching an unclenching.

Dean realized that Castiel was waiting for something. Some kind of response from Dean. _Hell, the guy had just told him that he was gay. That was a big deal, right._

Dean had absolutely no idea what to say. His mouth managed to come up with something before his brain could sensor it, "Who was the red haired chick kissing you in the parking lot, then?"

_The group hiding behind the island cringed as one. _

_God, my brother is the fucking King of Idiots, Sam moaned to himself._

_Jess patted his hand, seeming to read his mind._

Castiel's blinked in shock before answering, "Anna? You saw that?" Dean just nodded, still flabbergasted. "Anna is one of the secretaries in my office. She just, she was just thanking me for going with her to visit her mother in the hospital."

_Jess's mouth dropped open at Anna's name. Sam, Bobby, and Ellen all looked over at her. She looked back and smiled meekly, shrugging._

Dean was finally able to begin using his brain again. "Oh, shit, dude. I, uh, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I…I stepped out to wait for you and, just, kind of saw her and thought…"

Castiel was already shaking his head firmly, "No. Anna and I just work together. I, uh, I only date…men…" He shifted, turning his eyes away from Dean's stare.

This couldn't possibly get any more awkward, Dean thought in a panic. He was fucking it all up. He needed to tell Cas it was ok. That it was fine that he was gay. Hell-great even!

"Cas, I, uh, I think it's…good that you're gay." _Fuck, I am an idiot, Dean thought._ He continued hurriedly. "I mean, everyone here is totally supportive. Trust me, Ash is about as flaming of a bi-sexual as possible and we love him. So, uh, you don't need to be worried about being judged or anything. It doesn't change anything, I swear."

He watched Castiel visibly relax. _Thank god his bumbling words managed to be effective._

_The hidden group all breathed a silent sigh, nodding their heads._

_Geez, Sam thought, not the smoothest save, but it would have to do. Now, tell him you like him, for Christ's sake._

Castiel gave Dean a small smile. "Thank you, Dean. I'm, I'm glad you aren't…uncomfortable because of my preferences."

_The group hiding behind the island were looking back and forth at each other, clearly waiting for Dean to confess._

"What? No way dude. It's totally cool! I'm happy you're happy." Castiel smiled as Dean continued to try to assure him that they were fine.

'Nervous Dean' was about as cute as he could possibly be, and probably just as rare to see. "And I'm glad you ditched your lame-ass boyfriend. You deserve better. What kind of dumb fuck would talk badly about you? He must have been a fucking idiot."

_Sam rested his head in his hands. Yep. That's my brother, the dumb-ass in denial. Everyone's hard work tonight, wasted._

Dean was leading into a righteous tirade now, and Castiel hadn't felt such relief and happiness in what felt like forever.

Dean wasn't going to run from him. Dean accepted him. Dean wanted kick the ass of Castiel's ex-boyfriend.

All was perfect with the world.

After Dean finished his incredulous rant about how Castiel was right to leave his loser ex high-and-dry, he turned with an apologetic smile. "Shit. Sorry, Cas. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything. I just wasn't feeling so good out there. Are you, um, ready to head back in now?"

Castiel gave Dean a warm smile and nodded, "Sure, Dean. I, um, wanted to try the heel, toe thing again. I think I can get the hang of it."

Dean grinned as they walked out, "Yeah, you're not half-bad. Just take some advice from the expert. I happen to be one of the best two-steppers in these parts."

…-^o^-…

After Dean and Castiel had safely left, the four climbed weakly out from their hiding spots behind the island.

"…Well, I guess that was…progress." Sam muttered.

"Yeah," Jess added, more cheerfully, "I mean, it's only a matter of time. Right? They are so obviously hooked on each other, they're bound to see it soon? Right, guys?"

A cabinet along the wall near where Dean had been standing suddenly swung open, revealing Gabriel crammed uncomfortably inside, "I don't know. That Dean guy seems to be swimming in a sea of denial."

The group stared at him, mouths hanging open.

Sam finally asked for them all, "Gabriel, how long have you been under there?!"

"Since those two horny kids busted in here and tried to scar me for life!" He pointed at Bobby and Ellen with mock-anger, but he didn't try to hide his grin. The couple blushed and tried to straighten out their clothing busily to avoid the stares.

"God, Gabe. Stop being a freakin' creeper and just come out and join everyone. It is much easier to get those two together when you are actually, you know, out there with them." He gave Gabriel a skeptical eye-roll.

"No offense, but fuck that idea. You guys don't understand- Castiel is scary as shit when he is pissed. The guy's an evil genius, I swear. You know what he did yesterday? Oh, God! It was horrible. My tarts. My buttery, crispy flaky, pineapple tarts. I have to show up at work-on time- for the next month to get them back from Ruby! It's cruel and unusual punishment, I tell you!" he looked up from where he was almost sobbing into his hands.

The group was already half-way out the door, returning to the bar.

_Well, see if I share any with you guys, then_. Gabriel huffed to himself.

* * *

I can't stop laughing. I love how this chapter turned out! It was a crap-ton of fun to write, too. Frickin' Dean and his sea of denial, huh? Get a clue, dude!

The slow country song that came on is sung by Brad Paisley. It is called 'We danced'. Credit to him.

Next up:What happened to Benny!?

Phase one. Confrontation by annoying (not) little brothers. AKA- Sam stop making me breakfasts, you asshole.


	16. Chapter 16-Phase One, With Eggs

Later that evening, Sam pulled several of the group of friends back into the kitchen where they joined Gabriel for an impromptu briefing. Dean was with Castiel at the pool tables, having intended to show Castiel the tricks of hustling. About fifty dollars later, Castiel was wearing a small grin, and Dean was taking pointers, instead. Sam figured they were going to be occupied with the lesson for a while.

He explained to those of the group that hadn't been present, what they had overheard in the kitchen between Dean and Castiel, making a point to leave off the part about 'how' they happened to overhear the two men's private conversation.

After a few moments of taking in Sam's words, Ash finally spoke up. "I just don't get it, dude. We have been setting them up all night. The seats, the subtle conversation topics, hell, even the dancing. It's like these two are dead-set against hooking up! What's it gonna take to make them admit that they like each other- an Act of God?!" He threw his hands up and paced in concentration.

Gabriel, who was sitting on the edge of a counter swinging his dangling feet, interjected, "Hey, getting Cassie onto the dance floor used up the 'Act of God' card already, believe me. That's some incredible progress in itself. Plus, he went back 'willingly'? Yeah, Divine Intervention played a role there." He nodded knowingly.

Adam spoke up next, his voice cracking nerves,"I, I was trying to listen in, you know, to what they were talking about to each other. It was crazy, man. They kept referring to the Devil, or something. Dean was cracking up and Castiel was complaining that Satan was 'trying to eat his hair at night'. I just… I don't know…." The young man looked around worriedly at the group, as if asking if that kind of thing was normal to them.

There was a confused silence. Even Gabriel seemed nonplussed at the announcement.

"I think the dance stunt went really well," Jess suggested, trying to sound cheerful. "I mean, they didn't jump away immediately, so that's…something."

There were several nods and murmurs.

After a few moments, Ash spun around and stated, "We have to stop being subtle about this, I think." The rest of the group raised their eyebrows in surprise and waited. "We're really going to need to amp it up, right? I think I have a plan. It's a three-stage set-up." Everyone gathered closer, listening and nodding as Ash spoke.

"Alright, first, Sam," He pointed over at the tall man, "You gotta make the first move, bro. Confront Dean. Tell him you've been noticing his interest in Castiel." Sam paled visibly. Jess gripped his arm and smiled up at him in a silent show of support. "I know it's not going to be easy, and I'm not expecting it to make too big of a difference right away. The real goal is just to reassure him that we're all fine with it. Relax him into the idea a bit. That's where I'll come in."

Ash grinned widely at this part, rubbing his hands together eagerly, "Step two is me telling Dean that I've been thinking about making a move on Castiel. If Dean reacts like I expect he will, he is going to panic. That should push him into taking some kind of action." The entire group's collective jaws dropped at the idea at first, then widened into slow knowing smiles.

Ash paced a few more steps, then turned back to the group."Step three is going to be the big one. We need to force them together- make them face their feelings in an enclosed environment. We need to find a place where we can trap them together."

The group looked at each other, thinking hard.

"Well, I have a home-made panic room in my basement." Bobby grunted helpfully.

The entire group, including Ellen, turned slowly to look at the older man.

"What? I had a weekend off." He glared defensively at the rest of the group.

"Well, that's kinky and all, but I don't think we've got too many convincing arguments to get those two into your basement, buddy." Gabriel chuckled, winking at the man.

"Maybe somewhere private at Castiel's office? Like a meeting room or something." Sam suggested.

"No." Both Jess and Gabriel answered too quickly.

Jess looked at Sam apologetically, "Cameras. Everywhere. Too many people have made the mistake of trying to sneak into a room to uh, well…you know. The security guys play the tapes on Friday afternoons and charge people to not show the ones they 'star' in. Apparently they make a lot of money…." She cast a sidelong glance at Gabriel who shrugged, grinning unabashedly.

After a few moments of everyone trying to think, Gabriel hopped down from his perch and strolled over to the kitchen pantry door. It was stainless steel and a huge metal handle. He opened it slowly, testing it. Inside was an open corridor with shelves of dry food and jars on both sides. He shut it with an loud, ominous click.

When he turned back around, he was wearing a wide smile. The rest of the group was wearing matching grins.

…-^o^-…

It was almost nine o'clock when Dean noticed the text message on his cell phone. It was a short message from Benny asking for Dean to call him.

Dean left Castiel to his conversation with Sam about something like 'the feasibility of the juvenile justice system establishing pre-set waivers for non-violent crimes'.

Dean had absolutely no idea what in the hell they were talking about, but it gave him a chance to freely watch Castiel, and Dean was having difficulty pulling his attention away.

_Castiel was full of surprises. Great sense humor. Mad pool-hustling skills, which went nicely with his unreadable poker face. Adorable dance moves. Smoking hot looks. And he was gay._

_Gay. Gay. Gay. _

_As in, he liked other guys. _

_As in, not any of the skanky chicks who had been hovering around him all night, trying to catch his attention or pull him into a conversation. _

_Nope, just guys. _

Armed with this new knowledge, Dean found himself watching on with humor as women slunk over to Cas and paraded themselves seductively by. Cas was completely unfazed.

At one point, a bleach blonde babe had 'accidentally' bumped into him, and tried to spin it into a chance for a conversation.

She had stammered in a baby-ish voice that she was sorry, she was just 'sooo drunk'!

And Cas had looked at her with his super-serious stare and helpfully suggested that she 'should probably stop imbibing for the remainder of the night'.

Her face had been priceless. Dean had to duck behind the pool table until he could breath again.

Dean only decided to leave Castiel's side because he was worried about Benny. The man had said that he would be joining them tonight to welcome Castiel, but he had never shown.

Dean hustled outside to make his call. The phone rang several times before Benny picked up.

'_Hey, Dean, thanks for giving me a call.'_ Benny's voice was hushed, as if he was speaking closely into the phone, afraid of being overheard.

"No problem, man. I was getting a little worried, there. What happened to you?"

'_I don't want you to get alarmed or anything like that now, you hear?'_

Dean scoffed and answered, "Benny, I'm sure I can handle it. Where are you?"

'_Well...you remember the girlfriend I was going on about a few months ago?'_

"What- Coffee Shop girl? The one who bailed on you without a good-bye or anything? Yeah. What does she have to do with anything?"

_'…well, uh, I happened to see her this evening, as I was heading into the Road House. And, well…' Benny trailed off, as if hesitant to continue._

"Geez, Benny. Spit it out." Dean demanded confused.

Castiel appeared at the doors, spotting Dean and walking over. Dean gave him a warm smile and wave.

'_I may have thrown myself in front of her car to get her attention.'_

"…."

Dean had nothing. Castiel noticed his sudden look of shock, and gave Dean a curious glance.

'_I'm totally fine, ya know. Just a few bruises and a sprained ankle. But, can you believe this-she's here, at the hospital with me. It worked, Dean!'_

"…Benny. Are- are you shittin' me? You threw yourself in front of Coffee Shop girl's car? Like-as it was 'moving'-just to get her to notice you?!" Castiel's eyes widened with something that Dean thought seemed more than just regular shock.

'_Oh, now, don't make me out to be some sort of crazy person. I had to react quickly. And it worked out just fine.'_

"You're in the hospital! How does that mean it worked out fine!?" Dean was trying not be furious at the ridiculousness of the situation.

_"In the hospital WITH Anna. She's hardly left my side since they brought me in.'_

Dean's mind caught on the name, and he suddenly asked, "Wait. Benny, you said her name is Anna? Is she a thin red-head?" He met Castiel's concerned eyes.

'_Well, yeah. I'm sure I told you all about her a while back.'_

Benny had described her to them all back then, but Dean was only just making the connections now. The red-headed Anna who had been all over Castiel this evening in the parking lot was the same Anna that Benny hadn't shut up about for months.

"Fuck, Benny. You know you are a stupid son of a bitch, right?"

'_I regret nothing, brother.' Dean could hear the smug smile in his voice. _

Dean leaned forward, covering the phone and said to Castiel, "Cas, I think your secretary accidentally hit Benny with her car. He's at the hospital with her now. Nothing serious."

Castiel's frowned and shook his head hopelessly, apparently lost in thought. Then, he slowly looked up at Dean and asked, "Could you tell him to visit Anna's mother while he is there? Room 114 on the first floor. Her name is Missouri."

Dean gave him a questioning look, but relayed the message.

After Benny confirmed that he would stop in and pay her a visit, and promised that he would be fine to return to work by Thursday, Dean hung up the phone.

He looked over to where Castiel was standing patiently a few feet away. Most of the crowd was inside, and the parking lot was empty and silent. The sounds of traffic passing by on the distant road was the only noise around them.

Dean took the opportunity to take in Castiel's appearance fully. He looked fucking incredible tonight. The building floodlights casting him in a warm glow. He had ditched the office look, and instead wore a black Grateful Dead t-shirt with a maroon long sleeve shirt underneath. It was paired with worn blue jeans and dark brown boots. Between his clothes, his ruffled hair, and his super-serious stare, the man looked like he was ready to be in a music video. _A sexy rock music video_, Dean hummed with pleasure, his imagination sparking.

Dean tried to memorize the look, desperate to keep the sexy image with him after the night was over. An image like that could get him through a tough day, easy.

He finally spoke, breaking the strangely comfortable silence between them. "So, Cas. You know we have another concert set up for this Friday, right?" Cas looked at him with surprise. He hid his smile and continued, "Yeah, apparently the gig last week went so well, that Ellen wants us to play again."

Castiel looked over to him, eyes wide. "Congratulations, Dean. You did a fantastic job last Friday. You deserve it."

Dean basked in praise from Castiel. "Well, I figured, if you wanted to, I could hook you and your brother up with a set of free tickets, you know?" He tried not fidget with nervousness.

Castiel gave him one his small smiles and answered, "I-WE would really appreciate that, Dean."

"Great! Oh, and I wanted to get your cell number- just in case, you know, you end up being late visiting old ladies and, I don't know, stuff…." He cursed himself for bumbling again. He'd never had problems asking for people's numbers before. Just more proof that being in close proximity to Cas turned him stupid. It was probably the warm blue eyes that never seemed to stop staring into his, like they were searching for something deep inside. They were distracting.

Castiel just nodded, and rattled off his number as Dean typed. When he finished, he heard his cell ding, indicating a text. He pulled it from his pocket as Dean grinned across from him. The text read 'Comms check."

Castiel smiled and typed something. A small beeping tune that Castiel recognized as the Power Rangers communicator alert tone sounded from Dean's phone. Dean looked at it and his brows furrowed. "What does Lima Charlie mean?" He looked back at Castiel.

"It's phonetic code. L C, as in Loud and Clear." Castiel flushed and looked down, apparently embarrassed.

Dean chuckled huskily, appreciating the flush of color lighting up Castiel's cheeks.

_Fucking. Adorable_. He thought to himself. He felt his own face flushing in response.

After a few more moments of comfortable silence, both men shuffling their feet and enjoying the fresh air, Dean finally suggested, "We probably need to head back inside before my brother organizes a search party." Castiel nodded. "Oh, that reminds me, why couldn't Gabe make it tonight?"

Castiel faltered for a moment, turning to head inside, Dean following. "Gabriel… had to handle some other matters. Work stuff, I think." He lied. The evening had gone smoothly with just a few unexplained hiccups. God only knows what stunts Gabriel would have pulled if he had been here tonight. Castiel took a few seconds to appreciate his brother's absence.

…-^o^-…

Dean awoke the next morning to the delicious scents of breakfast foods wafting from the kitchen.

"Oh, fuck. What now?" He groaned as he rolled over, tangling himself further in his warm sheets.

When he finally appeared, fully dressed for work, in the frame of the kitchen door several minutes later, Sam was already seated, apparently waiting nervously for Dean.

"Dammit, Sammy. What is it this time?" Dean asked, not bothering with niceties. He pulled up his chair and sat down heavily, loading his plate up.

Nothing Sammy could say was going to spoil Dean's mood. The last evening with Cas had been the most fun Dean had in a long time. He couldn't place exactly what was different about it. In fact, thinking back on it, they had mostly just spoken the entire time, one long everlasting conversation, as they moved through drinks, pool, darts and so on. But, it had felt better than most nights out. Like Dean had spent the whole night laughing and joking. He smiled into his scrambled eggs, remembering.

Across the table, Sam watched him with a nervous smirk. Dean was smitten. He hadn't even managed to sound genuinely upset about the prepared breakfast as he usually did.

Sam forced his smile down, remembering what he needed to do. He took a deep breath.

"So, Castiel is awesome, huh?" He started carefully.

Dean spared him one quick glance before saying through his full mouth, "Duh." He returned to eating.

"You two really hit off. I mean, you were practically inseparable last night."

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged, not bothering to look up from his plate this time.

Sam decided to go for broke, "Do you like him?"

To his surprise, Dean fixed him with a obvious stare, "Of course I like him, Sammy." He gave Sam a weird look, then turned back to his food, shaking his head, as if he would never understand his brother.

Sam frowned. _God, his brother was thick. It was obvious who got the brains in the family. _

He sighed and rephrased his question, bracing himself. "No, Dean. I'm asking if you… 'like him', like him."

Dean looked back up at his brother perplexed, trying to interpret his words.

Then his face went completely slack and his eyes look like a deer in the headlights. His fork froze halfway between his plate and his mouth.

He stayed like that for several moments of tense silence, eyes locked on Sam's.

"Because I think it's great if you do," Sam suddenly rushed to fill the silence. "You two really go well together! I mean, you really seem to like him and I think he likes you back and that's a good place to start in any relationship." Sam tried to nod and smile.

Dean was just watching in wide-eyed terror as Sam continued on, "And, you know, if you really like each other than something like gender doesn't matter-"

"Sam. Stop. Just fucking stop!" Dean finally pulled himself out of his gaping shock. "I don't, I can't even-" He grasped out for some sort of denial, stuttering.

Sam cut him off, seizing the moment of weakness to make his point clear. "No, Dean. It doesn't matter. I just want you to know that it's OK and I totally support you if you decide to start going out with Castiel, that's all. Nothing else to it."

He stated it firmly, and to emphasize it, turned to his plate and began eating as if nothing was amiss and the conversation was already over.

Across the table, Dean's mouth opened and closed uselessly, brows furrowing. He tried to think of an argument or anything he could say to his brother, but part of him was telling him to just shut the hell up and let the conversation stop there.

_What had Sammy just said? 'If you decide'. As in, he wasn't calling Dean gay. He was just being his normal, hippy free-love self and jumping to crazy conclusions, right? So what if Sammy wanted to let Dean know he was ok if Dean was had a crush on Cas. Hell, that was like saying he was 'ok with Dean changing his hairstyle' or 'ok if Dean decided he liked Taylor Swift's music'. _

_It was just Sammy being Sammy._

_It had to be. Because if Sammy knew…anything, about Dean's sex dreams, or how he felt about Castiel at all, then Dean would die. Right there, at the table. Just keel over into his plate of eggs in embarrassment._

_No,_ Dean insisted firmly to himself, _Sammy said shit like this all the time. It was just him reading way too deep into his brother's life. He couldn't possibly know_.

Dean tried to eat the rest of his food, but his nerves were completely racked. He was beginning to go over everything in his head. All the times he had spent with Cas, looking for anything he had done that would have given him away to Sam.

He finally jumped up from his chair and mumbled a hurried, "Going to work."

He was out the door before Sam could even respond.

As Sam set at the kitchen table alone, he glanced around.

No thrown food painting the walls.

No broken plates shattered across the floor.

The table was still upright.

A huge breathy laugh suddenly erupted from Sam.

_Nailed it_, he chuckled incredulously.

After a few more moments to appreciate the magnitude of his accomplishment and what it meant for Dean, he pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to Ash.

**S: Phase one complete. Phase two is a go.**

**A: Roger. Initiating phase two.**

* * *

Oh, boy….

Next up: Phase Two

Castiel gets a WoW dating walkthrough from Charlie.


	17. Chapter 17-Phase Two, Sexy Mullets

Dean couldn't focus.

No matter what job he was working on in the Auto Shop, his mind would keep wandering to Cas and to Sam's words that morning.

He tried to shake the thoughts off, constantly reassuring himself that Sam couldn't know about his feelings towards Castiel.

After going through his memories with a fine-tooth comb, Dean hadn't been able to find anything that would convince Sam that his brother liked Cas.

_So, sure, he had talked about Cas a lot when he first came into the shop. _

_And, maybe spending an entire Sunday, and that night, at the man's house was a little unorthodox. _

_And, yeah, Dean had pretty much stuck by Cas's side all of Tuesday night. _

_Still, no way Sammy could have decided just off of those few things that Dean liked the man. Hell, Dean wasn't even a hundred percent sure what exactly he was feeling. How could Sammy know before him? _

Dean huffed in frustration, unable to keep his mind on the tasks in front of him. Benny was out for the day, recovering from his 'not-quite an accident'. Apparently meeting Anna's mom had gone over great. The elderly woman had given the man the third degree for the first few minutes, then spent the next hour asking him why he wasn't her son-in-law yet. Benny had told Dean that the Missouri was a handful, but that the two were thick as thieves in no time. Then the older woman had strong-armed her daughter into taking Benny a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup to his house for lunch.

Dean had received about twenty excited texts since yesterday from the man, gushing about how perfect the red head was. Hell, he was practically getting a play by play.

Bobby had decided not to call anyone to fill in for him today, which meant that Ash and Dean were the only people working the floor. Occasionally, Dean spotted Bobby with a wrench in hand, taking care of some minor maintenance. It was a pretty slow day, which was the only reason Dean was getting away with dragging his ass.

By the end of his lunch break, Dean was laid out on the break room sofa, still trying to figure out what gave him away to Sammy.

When Ash entered the room, Dean barely bothered to lift his head. It wasn't until the man spoke up that Dean acknowledged him.

"Hey, bro. Do you think my hair is ok?" Ash asked him.

Dean raised his head briefly to glance at the man's long mullet as he stood fixing it in the wall mirror. He lowered his head back to the sofa and mumbled, "Yeah, man. Majestic."

"You really think so? I don't know." Ash sounded nervous, which caught Dean's attention. Ash was the epitome of confidence.

Dean looked back over at his friend and stated, "Looks great, man. What, you worried your hair might be going out of style?" Dean allowed himself a chuckle.

Ash gave him a wide-eyed frown before returning straight-faced, "No way, man. Mullets are eternal." He paused, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to share the next part with Dean, but decided to continue. "I'm just a little worried, you know. There's this guy…and, well, I'm pretty sure I have a shot. I don't want to blow it because of a bad hair day."

Dean finally rolled up to sitting position, throwing Ash a small smirk. "Oh, I see how it is. You got a little crush going on, huh?"

"Well, may-haps I do. I'm just not positive he's into me. I mean, I'm sure he's gay, because of my own finely-tuned Gay-dar. But, I can't tell if he's going to go for my particular type. I know what your thinking, how could he resist my flowing locks and doe eyes, right? But it's different this time. This guy's a real hottie. He could have anyone he wants." Ash huffed a sigh, "I'm probably just freaking out over nothing, huh? What do you think?" He looked over at Dean for his opinion.

Dean shrugged, picking up one of the car magazines tossed on the side table and began leafing through it. "I don't know, man. You usually manage to work some shady Hoodoo on people, and next thing I know they're all over you. You probably got nothing to worry about."

Ash gave him a grateful smile and released a deep breath. "Yeah, your probably right, dude. I just, I don't know, wish I knew more about him. The guy is like Pandora's Box-a total mystery. I don't even know what kind of things to talk about when I'm around him."

He stopped, as if a thought had just occurred to him. He suddenly spun around to face Dean directly. Dean cocked his eyebrow at the hopeful look in Ash's eyes.

"Holy crap, bro. I totally should just ask you. You know him better than almost everybody so far." Dean frowned in confusion. "Yeah, how did I not think of that before. He's probably told you all about himself!"

Dean was at a loss. "Ash, you lost me. Who the hell are we talking about again?"

"Castiel, man! My future husband number two! You know, only if Jason Franks doesn't lift the restraining order." Ash answered, like it was obvious.

Dean's jaw literally dropped.

He stared in shock at Ash, uselessly opening and closing his mouth, trying to figure out how his world turned upside down so suddenly.

"You alright, bro?" Ash was giving him a worried look.

Dean tried to put his thoughts in order, but wasn't having much luck.

_Ash liked Cas. He wanted to make a move on Cas. _

_The fucking MIT graduate, who could potentially be as rich as Cas was if he wanted to, was going to try and hook up with Cas._

Dean's mind played through all the times Ash had been around Cas in fast forward.

_Ash helped Cas with Lucifer in the garage when they first met._

_Ash had already told their friends about Cas before Dean could that evening._

_Ash sat right next to Cas last night, practically rubbing shoulders with him._

_Ash had grabbed Cas's hand, pulling him onto the dance floor._

_How the hell had Dean missed the signs? Of course Ash was interested. Dean was fucking straight and even he wanted Cas! How could he have not considered that other men, especially gay ones, would try to pick up Cas?_

_Fuck! Ash 'the Kingfisher of Bi-Sexual Dating' Lindberg was going after Cas._

_Dean's Cas._

Ash watched as Dean went from sitting frozen in shock, to suddenly past him across the break room, shutting and locking the door.

After a quick, thoughtful pause, he slowly dragged the room's heavy metal trash bin in front of it as well. Then an old folding chair that was resting against the wall nearby. For a second, Ash could of sworn he was eyeing the old refrigerator, too.

Once he had effectively locked them in, and the rest of the world out, Dean turned slowly back around, but kept his eyes cast nervously down to the floor instead of on Ash. He ran his hands through his hair and down his neck, then back again several times.

Ash waited patiently for the man to speak.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Dean mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. His ears turned a bright red.

"I didn't catch that, bro." Ash responded, trying to hide the amusement in his voice.

Dean's wide eyes flew to his in frustrated anger then dropped back down quickly. He mumbled louder this time, his face getting impossibly redder.

"…Said, I like Cas..." He waited with his head down, arms crossing over his chest defensively.

Ash barely managed to choke down a snort. The poor guy looked like he was waiting to be taunted, like they were in middle school or something. Ash flashed to the familiar sing-song teasing,_ 'Dean and Castiel, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.'_

He pulled himself together, throwing mock shock in his voice, "Oh, my bad, dude! I didn't realize you already had dibs. I'll stand down, then."

Dean's head snapped up, as if he hadn't expected Ash to back down so quickly. After a few seconds Dean's voice broke the silence, "What? That's it?"

Ash threw him a quick look and a shrug, "Yeah, man. Go for it. I think he likes you better than me, anyway."

"Wha…what? No way!" Dean spluttered. "I mean... what makes you think that?"

The man tried his best at looking nonchalant, but Ash wasn't fooled.

"What do you mean? The dude is clearly interested in you." Ash glanced sideways and saw Dean's face was practically the color of a tomato.

"Shut up, dude. No he isn't." Dean tried to sound sure, but there was an unmistakeable tremor of hope in his voice.

Ash decided to nudge a little further. "Nah, man. He totally is. I figured I only had a chance because you weren't an option. If you're in the game, though, then I got no choice but to bow out. He'll pick you for sure."

Dean took in Ash's words, his eyes lighting up.

After casting a few concerned looks toward the barricaded door, as if expecting a crowd of eavesdroppers to be listening intently right outside, Dean leaned forward and hesitantly asked, "Well, then, um. What should I…do?"

Ash gave him a genuinely confused look. "What do you mean?'

Dean shuffled his feet. "I mean, I don't know anything about asking a guy out. How do I act? What do I say?"

"Bro, it's practically the same as with any chick. You've got plenty of experience there, right? Just, you know, flirt with him a bit so he knows he has a shot. He probably thinks your strictly straight, so throw the dude some hints that you're into him."

Dean was rubbing the back of his neck again in nervous agitation, thinking hard. "I don't know, man. It's different with chicks."

"How's that?" Ash asked, confused.

"I don't care if they say 'no'." Dean stated matter-of-factly.

Ash paused in awe, wondering if Dean realized how obnoxiously sweet the words he just said were. Apparently, the man hadn't even thought twice about them.

Ash sighed in frustration. _Dean clearly was already on track for reeling Castiel in without even realizing it himself, especially if he could drop lines like that without a second thought._

"Dude, trust me. Just keep doing what you've been doing, and just add in a little more flirting. Castiel will catch on fast. Then it's just a matter of right time, right place.

_In this case, Friday night locked in a kitchen pantry, Ash thought to himself in amusement._

Dean was nodding his head slowly, frowning. He finally turned his eyes back to Ash's and stated, "Hey, thanks man. I, uh, really appreciate the advice. I wasn't really sure who to go to about this, you know?" His face was reddening again, in the familiar custom of Dean expressing his feelings out loud.

"No problemo, dude. I'm always happy to help."

…-^o^-...

After Dean un-barricaded the door and left, Ash pulled out his cell phone and sent out a mass text to their group.

**A: Phase Two was a success. Make preparations for Phase Three.**

…-^o^-…

Dean thought about Ash's advice as he returned to his work that afternoon.

_Flirting. Yeah, he knew how to flirt. Hell, he gave advice to others on the subject frequently. But the idea of flirting with Cas was like beginning an important test, then realizing the first page in that you have no idea what any of the answers are._

_Ash had said it was just like with chicks, but it just didn't feel like that to Dean. It was more…terrifying. Just the thought that Cas may shoot him down the second he tried to flirt was enough to make Dean want to scrap the whole idea._

_But, what if Ash was right, and Cas really was interested in him? Shit! What if Cas flirted back?_

_Dean tried to imagine Cas flirting. He pictured the blue-eyed man giving him a sexy wink. His body shuddered, and he felt his cock begin to stir. Fuck._

_He pictured Cas leaning close to him, whispering something unimportant into his ear, then sneaking a quick lick of his tongue before pulling back away with a secret smirk._

Dean straightened up from leaning into the hood of the car he was working on. He looked around the garage nervously, trying to shift his hardening shaft carefully in his tight pants.

_Damn_. Cas was already almost too sexy for Dean to deal with when the guy 'wasn't' trying. If he actually flirted with Dean, there was no telling if Dean would even survive.

But, fuck, what a great way to go.

Just the chance to see Cas lose his calm demeanor and watch his blue eyes glaze over with heated lust….

Dean practically threw his tools down and walked uncomfortably across the garage to the privacy of the rest room, praying no one appeared to witness the obvious bulge in his pants.

Yeah, he could definitely give flirting a try. And, god help him if Cas flirted back.

…-^o^-…

Castiel was working on a report at his office computer after lunch, when his phone dinged, indicating a text.

He glanced at it, assuming that it was Gabriel, as usual. Instead, he saw the name flash 'Dean'. He snatched the phone up so quickly that it almost flew from his hands.

**D: Hey**

Castiel stared at the word, feeling a small buzz of excitement. _Dean was thinking about him_. Castiel smiled to himself, then responded.

**C: Hi Dean.**

He set the phone down, but didn't return to his work. Instead, he waited nervously, hoping that the man would text again-about anything.

His phone dinged.

**D: how is work going?**

**C: It is good. Mostly computer work. How is your work going?**

**D: Ok. Mostly engine issues today.**

Castiel sat anxiously in his chair, wandering what else he could ask Dean to keep him texting. He didn't have to, because Dean texted again.

**D: Road House again tonight?**

Castiel felt his heart beat speed up. _Another night with Dean? Two in a row? It was almost more than he could hope to ask for._

**C: I would like that Dean.**

**D: great! i'll see you soon then. : )**

Castiel gripped the phone tightly in his hand, smiling to himself.

_Dean wanted to see him again. He wouldn't have to wait until Friday._

_In just a few more hours, Dean would be talking to him again. Smiling at him again._

Nothing could bring Castiel down from the cloud he was floating on.

…-^o^-…

Charlie was practically hopping up and down with excitement in her chair. Anna had called in a sick day that morning, which Jess had been quick to correct. According to Sam, both Anna and Benny, who Charlie remembered from their meeting on Monday, had been in a relationship. But Anna had disappeared and no one could figure out why. Then, Benny had spotted her at the Road House and thrown himself in front of her car in a desperate effort to not lose her again. Charlie had nearly died from laughter at the romantic gesture.

Now Jess was describing how their plan to force Dean and Castiel together had gone over.

"No frickin' way!" Charlie practically squealed as Jess recounted the past evening to her. "And they never realized that you were all there, listening?"

Jess grinned and tried to hush her, looking nervously over to Castiel's office door. "Yeah, it was crazy! And, so we all got together again and came up with the new plan. Sam and Ash are handling the first two steps, then we are going to trap them together in the kitchen pantry after the concert Friday. We already have that part set up, so we just have to wait. I totally think it's going to work. I mean, you should have seen those two, it was like they couldn't stand to be apart. Oh my god, it was the cutest thing! So, Sam and Castiel were talking, and Dean got up to go outside to make a call, right? And Castiel just kind of watched him, and completely loses track of what Sam was saying to him. Castiel looked so freaking pitiful wondering why Dean was leaving! Then he just completely ditched Sam to go find Dean! It was so sweet!"

"Oh-my-God. So cute!" Charlie practically shrieked as she covered her blushing face. "I am so bummed I missed it!"

The door to Castiel's office opened and he leaned out, wearing a look of concern. "Is everything ok out here? He asked, looking at both women and noting Charlie's flushed face.

"Oh, yes sir. We're fine. I was just talking to Charlie about my date with Sam last night." She turned to look at Charlie, "I almost forgot. You said you had another date. Did it go well?" Jess asked.

Castiel stepped out from his office and joined them, sitting down in Anna's empty chair. He nodded at Jess's words, interested in hearing about Charlie's date, too.

"More like abso-freakin-lutely perfect!" She swooned in her chair, eyes going distant. "She brought us both a glass of Dalaran White and some Alterac Swiss. Then we took a walk through Ashenvale and talked for what felt like forever." Castiel and Jess smiled and nodded at her, slightly perplexed.

"I, uh, I've never heard of Ashenvale. Is it a nice area?" Jess asked, trying to think of where Charlie was referring. She cast a quick glance at Castiel who seemed even more lost than her.

"Oh, yeah, very fun." Charlie continued with dreamy enthusiasm. "We passed by this dwarf rogue, and he was totally a level eighty-five, but his gear was crap, so we took him out pretty easily." Castiel and Jess's smiles both dropped to be replaced with looks of confusion. "She's frost specced so the poor little bastard never had a chance. Then we went to Undercity and sat on one of the canal bridges and talked while we fished."

Charlie let out a deep contented sigh, and murmured more to herself than them, "It was…magical."

Jess and Castiel met each other's eyes in bewilderment before turning back to Charlie. Jess finally asked what they were both thinking.

"Um, Charlie? Your date was…in an online game?" She asked tentatively.

"Yep! We met a while back. Her real name is Gilda and she's just…perfect." Charlie was clearly smitten, so Jess tried to be gentle with how she phrased her words.

"So you…you've never actually met her in, like, the real world?" Jess tried.

"Hmm? No. Not yet. But, we've definitely been talking about it!" Charlie didn't seem to see anything wrong with this, so Jess pushed harder.

"I guess what I mean is, what if 'Gilda' is actually a forty-eight year old, morbidly obese woman with no job and about thirty cats?"

Charlie just shrugged blissfully, "Doesn't matter. It's love." Charlie's eyes glazed back over and a wide grin was spread across her face.

Jess turned to Castiel. He was staring in intense confusion at Charlie. His brows were furrowed and his head was tilted slightly. When he spoke, it was slowly and thoughtfully to Jess, "This is…very complex. Why did they need to hurt the dwarf during their date? Is that the norm when dating online? Did the dwarf do something wrong?"

Jess was grateful when Charlie's desk phone rang, interrupting the bizarre conversation.

Charlie barely got two words out before she appeared to be cut off by the person on the other end of the line. After a moment, she handed the phone over to Castiel, quietly saying, "Crowley".

"Yes, sir?" Castiel said.

_'I'm sure you're already aware that your last Think Tank was considered a…large success by upper leadership.' He didn't sound as impressed. 'I want you to do another. Today, in fact. Marketing Team number two. I expect to have the results on my desk no later than noon tomorrow. Are we clear?'_ He didn't wait for Castiel to answer. A click signaled the call was over.

Castiel frowned as he set the phone down. He was supposed to meet Dean tonight. It was already almost two o'clock. By the time they got the room set up and reviewed the profiles, it would be four-thirty.

Charlie had been smiling when she passed him the phone, but she stopped as she watched Castiel's frown grow. "We good, boss? Is it another Think Tank?"

"Yes. Go ahead and prepare the room. Marketing Team number two. I'll go through the profiles in my office." Both women watched worriedly as he trudged back to his office and shut the door.

Charlie turned to Jess, "He didn't seem very excited."

Jess just nodded and shrugged.

* * *

Hmmm… Castiel's plans to see Dean tonight just got ruined. Or did they? I wonder how Dean will handle it?

And how about that Ash, huh? Smooth operator….

(Special thanks to my BFF, the wonderful Vaedana! I had to hit her up for WoW dating tips. I have no idea what I typed so if it is kinky or grossly inappropriate…thank her.)

Next up: Dean has some trouble -cough- down there.

Castiel really likes burgers.

Dean surprises Castiel (and himself)


	18. Chapter 18-Failing at Flirting

Dean was changing the oil in a car and humming cheerfully along to the radio when he heard his phone go off.

**C: Sorry Dean, but I have been asked to work late tonight. I probably won't be done in time to meet up with you.**

Dean reread the text several times, frowning deeply. He could practically feel the happy excitement draining from his body quickly.

_Shit. _Cas wasn't going to be there tonight. Dean wasn't going to be able to try his flirting techniques on him, like he had planned. He had been thinking all day about what the best lines and moves were. He had been building up nervous anticipation, wondering how Cas would respond to them.

Now it almost seemed a waste to even go himself. _What was there to do if Cas wasn't there? Hell, what did Dean usually do? _

He could sit at the bar and drink.

Maybe find someone to play a few games of pool with him.

He huffed a sigh of frustration.

It all just seemed so pointless without Cas. It sounded crazy, but it was true. His normal routine seemed dull compared to when he was able to be with Cas. Even if he had only known the man for less than two weeks. It was like his life was separated into two portions: The time before Cas, which sucked. And the time after meeting Cas, which was awesome in ways Dean couldn't describe, but could feel, regardless.

He frowned at the message once more, then grudgingly responded.

**D: no worries. i'll hang out there in case you manage to get off work early.**

**C: Ok. I'll see what I can do.**

…-^o^-…

Castiel was sure that he broke a record. Not to mention several chairs, a white board, and the corner edge off the conference table.

He hadn't wasted any time as Marketing Team number two filed in. The door had barely shut before he went into action.

He used all his best techniques, forcing the terrified group to perform at their highest level to make the best marketing plan possible. Any resistance was squashed mercilessly. The weak were left behind.

One man had even fainted, and the group spent the rest of the time ignoring his body laying across the floor, except to step over it occasionally.

They had a finished product that was sure to be hit, and it only took four and half hours.

…-^o^-…

When Charlie unbolted and opened the door, the group filed out with the usual excitement accompanying a successful Think Tank.

She glanced inside to see Castiel hunched over the conference table, frowning thoughtfully.

"Boss? Everything good?" She asked carefully.

Castiel sighed heavily, not looking up at her. "It's already past ten o'clock."

Charlie nodded slowly and stated, "Yep. That was the most hardcore Think Tank I've ever seen. You were awesome, sir!" She tried to cheer the man up.

She wasn't sure if he had even heard her.

He slowly rose from the table and walked past her out of the room, mumbling, "Too late to try and show up now."

She watched as he made his way over to his office grabbing his coat and things, then stood at the elevator. He seemed lost in his thoughts, barely acknowledging what he was doing. It was like watching a zombie, Charlie decided, except way cuter and significantly less awesome.

"I'll, uh, get the data and stuff together like usual, 'kay boss?" Charlie called to him, her voice worried.

He gave her a small hand wave to go ahead.

The elevator dinged and he disappeared inside.

After he left, Charlie sent out a quick text to Jess.

**C: OMG. He is so bummed. It's adorable but super-sad at the same time. : (**

**J: Yeah, Dean's been about the same here. Sucks that the Think Tank had to go down today. Hope there isn't one on Friday…**

**C: Totally! And I was so pumped that Ash got Dean to admit he likes him! I wanted to hear about Dean trying to seduce him soooooo bad!**

**J: It'll be fine. We still have tomorrow, and then Friday which is the biggie!**

**C: Yay! I'm so totally going to be there. I explained everything to Gilda and she is super-supportive, too!**

Charlie sat her phone down, huffing a big sigh and clapping her hands together. _No sense crying over spilt milk. There was still plenty of time to hook Castiel up with his Prince Charming._

She began working on transcribing the data, humming the Cinderella song, 'A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes'.

…-^o^-…

Dean was sitting grumpily by himself in a corner, being what Sam had referred to multiple times that night as 'an anti-social ass'.

Dean hadn't even bothered to snap back at his brother. He just kept his phone clenched in his hand, drinking coffees to keep himself awake. He didn't care when Cas got off work, he was determined to be awake and ready to meet up.

He checked the time on his phone constantly.

_What the hell had Jess called his meeting? A Brain Tank or something? Whatever. She had tried to describe it to him because he wouldn't stop asking her how long they usually took, and whether they would be done before the bar closed up for the night. She hadn't been able to give him a good answer and it just made him more frustrated._

His phone chimed the power rangers tone, and Dean already had it opened before it finished.

**C: Sorry. Just got out. I won't be able make it tonight. **

Dean's shoulders slumped in defeat. It was pretty late for a weekday. But he had still hoped that Cas would be able to swing by.

**D: no problem. bet youre tired.**

**C: Yes, and I still need to type the report tonight. I really am sorry Dean. I was looking forward to it.**

**D: don't be. we'll catch up again soon.**

Dean sat his phone down beside him, and rested his head in his hands.

_Shit. No Cas tonight. Maybe he could catch him tomorrow? He had to see him before the show. Most of that time would be spent on stage, away from him. Then they would have a whole weekend apart. Unless, Dean came up with something…. Maybe invite him out somewhere besides the bar._

Dean let his mind wander in thought, thinking of a way to get Cas to spend more time with him.

Suddenly, a hand was grabbing his ass tightly. He let out a sound that would have been a squeak if Dean wasn't way too masculine to make that sound.

"Well, hello handsome! What the hell are you doing sitting by your lonesome?" Dean turned at the sound of the voice.

"Geez, Pamela. You trying to leave more embarrassing bruises on my ass? The last one was pretty tough to explain." He forced himself not to sound as miserable as he felt.

"Well, the best way to avoid that is to only sleep with me, obviously." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, leaning close. "Speaking of wild sex, I really missed you the last few months. I heard about the she-bitch." She gave a small hiss at the mention of Lisa, but her smile returned quickly, a gleam in her eye. "But, her loss, my gain, right? What do ya say we hit it like the good ole days, cowboy?" She was already pulling him from his chair and leading him past the crowd and out the doors before he could process what was happening.

Pamela had been Dean's go-to for casual sex since he was a teenager. She was a little older, which had been the appeal. As he grew, she had somehow become his 'in-between girlfriends' hook-up. Whenever Dean wasn't dating anyone, or was just too lazy to pick up a new chick for a fling, she was who he called. They had developed a solid relationship around 'no strings attached booty calls'.

Dean could feel the familiar pang of arousal. He had been 'going solo' for what felt like forever, having tired of his usual one night stands afer Lisa. The thrill had been lost. But, since Cas's appearance, he had been jerking off practically every chance he got trying to control the raging lust and attraction the man caused in him.

He needed a lay. Desperately.

Pamela latched onto his lips and began groping him before they even made it across the parking lot to Dean's car. The motions were so familiar to them both by now that they had the Impala's back door open and were sliding across the seats without even breaking apart. Dean slid his hands up her blouse to unclasp her bra, but realized that she had skipped out on wearing one this evening.

She sat on top of him, grinding her hips against his jeans while running her nails up and down his chest under his shirt. She moved them down teasingly to unbutton his pants and reach inside.

After a few seconds, she pulled back slowly and gave him a strange look.

"You awake, honey?" She frowned.

Dean looked up at her from where he was half-lying against the door. "Uh. I…well, yeah. I don't know what…." His hands had stilled on her waist, and he blinked up at her, then down at his limp cock.

"Well…fuck." He sounded almost amazed, as if he had suddenly realized something, which irked Pamela.

"Well apparently 'fuck' isn't quite the right word. Is there some sort of problem here?" She was clearly becoming annoyed by Dean's lack of enthusiasm. "You got some other chick you would rather be with? Because it sure as hell doesn't seem to be me." She felt Dean's hands pull away from her bare skin.

"Um, actually, I…I don't think I… Maybe, uh... ." Dean was stuttering. "Let's just, let's try something. Real quick, ok? Just kinda, lift your shirt for me?"

Pamela was about to really lose her shit. She jerked her shirt up angrily, proudly exposing her ample breasts of which Dean had always been a huge fan.

The yellow glow of the streetlights gave Dean a clear view of the two perfect globes. He stared at them with a look of deep concentration for several seconds, then glanced incredulously down at his placid member.

He looked back up, meeting Pamela's eyes, and suddenly let out a short burst of amazed laughter.

Pamela hissed angrily, dropping her shirt and grabbing the door handle. She jumped out of the impala and turned on Dean as he slid out and buttoned his pants back up. "Are you a god-damn idiot? Huh? What the hell is so fucking funny? I'm hot, you son of a bitch! You know what that makes you? Impotent!" She practically shouted the last part, pacing away from him, lost in a rage. She turned to him again to continue ripping into his apparent lack of manhood.

To her amazement, Dean was already hopping into the driver's seat and starting the car up.

He paused just long enough to roll down the window and call over to her, "Sorry, Pam. I just figured something out. You're still totally hot, don't worry! I just-I need to go see someone. Right now."

Then he was gone. Just a pair of bright tail lights fading in the distance.

…-^o^-…

"Where the hell did Dean go? Did he leave for the night?" Sam plopped down in the chair next to Jess, gulping from his drink in annoyance.

"I'm not sure. Charlie texted a few minutes ago. She said they just got out. I don't think Castiel's going to make it. He still has to write up the report on the meeting."

All of a sudden, Ash was slamming into the table with a crazed look in his eyes, rattling the mugs and bottles. "Dude! Pamela! She's here somewhere. People saw her-with Dean!"

Jess watched in alarm and confusion as Sam almost flipped the table over jumping up. "Fuck! Find them-quick! They couldn't have gone far." He looked around panicking, trying to think. "Oh, shit! The car!"

Sam and Ash dashed away, weaving impatiently around people and heading for the door.

Jess wasn't sure what was happening, but she jumped up to follow after them.

Sam made it out the door first, followed closely by Ash and Jess. He was already running across the parking lot, when the figure of a woman appeared from behind some cars, stomping toward the entrance.

Sam stopped, and so did the woman. She stared at the three of them for a tense moment, then threw her arms up in the air and shouted, "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is wrong with Dean?!"

Jess watched as Sam and Ash both released huge sighs of relief.

…-^o^-…

Castiel had only made it about twenty minutes into his report before giving up in frustration.

Lucifer was out of control with energy, launching himself in circles around the entire apartment, then hopping up on Castiel and his laptop to try and nip at his hands.

Castiel was tired. His stomach was growling in protest for missing supper, but he didn't have the energy to cook anything. He was drinking water to try and fill the empty void.

He realized that there wouldn't be any work accomplished until he wore the kitten out for the night.

He was teasing the kitten with his favorite toy when the doorbell rang.

A glance at his clock showed that it was a little past eleven o'clock at night. He walked to the door hesitantly, and looked through the peep hole.

His entire body froze with shock.

The doorbell rang again. Not sure what else to do, Castiel unlocked it and opened it up.

"Dean?"

…-^o^-…

Dean smiled nervously, suddenly realizing what a stupid idea this was.

Castiel was staring at him with startled eyes from the other side of the door. He was wearing one of his tight t-shirts and his familiar flannel pajama pants. His hair was damp and mussed, like he had just stepped out of the shower.

Dean felt a rush of heat rip through him, shooting straight down to his cock. It stirred to life immediately.

_Thank God for that,_ Dean thought to himself with relief.

He had been pretty sure when he hadn't been able to get it up for Pamela, but he still needed absolute confirmation. It's not the kind of thing a guy could delay checking on.

He realized Cas was waiting patiently for him to say something. He was holding a long stick with a feathery object attached by a string hanging from it. Behind him, Lucifer was attacking the feathered end, tugging at the toy furiously.

"I, um, I thought you might want something to eat." Dean held up a greasy BigGerson's bag in front of him lamely. He cringed inwardly, waiting for Castiel to snap something about how late it was.

Castiel's eyes latched onto the bag instantly, and he exhaled as he spoke deeply, "Oh, thank God." He grabbed the bag from Dean's hand, stepping back into the apartment and almost ripping it open.

He suddenly let out the most indecent moan Dean had ever heard. "A Burger! Oh, God-yes!" It came out as low pitched growl, reverberating through Dean's entire body until he was humming with barely-checked arousal.

All Dean could do was watch in helpless fascination as Castiel unwrapped the burger hurriedly and stared at it in way that made Dean's pants tighten painfully and his pulse pound loudly in his ears.

Castiel was about to take a bite, mouth opening widely, when his eyes turned back to Dean, still standing in the doorway.

He snapped his mouth shut, to Dean's dismay, and he began apologizing profusely. "Ah, I am so sorry Dean. I didn't mean to…. Please, come in. Thank you for bringing food. I'm just…really hungry." His cheeks reddened beautifully and Dean could care less about courtesies.

He grinned at Cas and shut the door behind him. "No worries, man. I wasn't sure if you'd mind me coming by so late. Eat up." He gestured to the burger in Cas's hand.

Cas nodded. "It's fine. I have to be up for a while to finish my work anyway. Plus, Lucifer is having abandonment issues and wants constant attention." He nodded to where the kitten was amusing himself with his toy on the floor, before eagerly raising the burger back to his mouth and taking a juicy bite.

Dean's eyes widened as he watched Cas's head roll back in ecstasy as he chewed. "Mmmm! I haven't had a burger in months." He looked down at the burger with something close to lust and said around his mouthful, "These make me…very happy." He smiled as he took another bite, savoring it.

Dean's eyes were stuck on Cas's moving lips, watching as his tongue darted out to lick a fleck of sauce from his mouth. He turned away to make use of the counter of the breakfast bar.

_Fuck. That is one lucky burger,_ Dean thought with a silent groan.

_This is it. Time to make a move._

Dean stepped closer to where Castiel stood and took in a deep breath to calm his restless nerves.

_It's just like flirting with women._

_Just make it something obvious and see how he reacts._

_Smooth and easy._

_I've got this._

Dean opened his mouth to speak, and at that moment Castiel brought his fingers up to his mouth, thoughtlessly licking dripped sauce off them.

What came out of Dean's mouth was a loud, heated groan.

Castiel stiffened, fingers falling away from his mouth. He turned slowly around to look at Dean with startled blue eyes. His mouth was still parted, barely.

Dean lost it.

His hand darted forward, grabbing Castiel's shirt collar and tugging him forward as he closed the distance between them. The burger fell loosely from Castiel's hand onto the counter.

Dean's mouth locked onto Castiel's, grazing gently against the other man's lips, pressing against their soft warmth. The foreign brush of his stubble rubbed against Dean's. He inhaled sharply, Castiel's clean scent causing a jolt of primal hunger to shoot through him.

Dean felt Castiel's body tense, a hand shooting up to grasp at Dean's shoulder.

Dean caught it, wrapping his own tightly around the wrist to halt its movement. He leaned in deeper, ravishing Castiel's mouth with all the finesse he could muster, until he felt the hand go limp in his. Dean suckled harder at the swollen lips, giving a happy murmur when they finally parted. He thrust his tongue forward, probing.

Castiel tasted tangy and hot. He exhaled a breathy moan of pleasure that Dean was quick to swallow. He moved his other hand to wrap his arm around Cas's waist, drawing him in closer.

Dean swirled his tongue, relishing in the sweet heat and groaning eagerly as he delved deeper.

Suddenly, Castiel's hand pulled free of his and shot forward, grabbing tightly at Dean's shoulder, pulling him in closer. Castiel's tongue warred with his as he began responding back enthusiastically.

An unexpected shove on his shoulder made him spin around, which followed by a push that had Dean stumbling backwards, his back bumping the edge of the breakfast bar as Castiel lunged forward and pressed him tightly against it.

He took advantage of Dean's distracted surprise, deepening the kiss on his end and taking the lead. His other hand shot beneath Dean's shirt, sliding hotly over firm, flat abs, then further up, fingers gliding deliciously across nipples. He slid his leg between Dean's, his knee grazing against Dean's hardened shaft, forcing a keening moan from deep in Dean's throat.

Dean felt Castiel respond with a deep, rumbling growl that startled him. He pulled back in surprise at the sudden aggressiveness from Cas.

Dean's eyes locked onto Castiel's blue ones from just a few inches away and he froze.

Castiel's eyes were dilated, completely glazed over with lust. His brows were drawn tightly together. He was breathing deeply, fingers digging into Dean's shoulder holding him firmly against the counter, while the other hand was splayed warmly across Dean's exposed chest, thumb ghosting over his nipple. Dean felt his cock pulse against the pressure of Castiel's leg through his jeans.

Castiel looked like he was about to devour him and leave nothing behind.

All Dean could manage was a breathless, whimpering groan of arousal.

Hearing the small sound wrung from Dean, Castiel abruptly came back to himself.

His eyes cleared and widened as he suddenly seemed to realize where he was, and more importantly, what he was doing.

He flung himself away from Dean like he had been scorched, taking several steps back.

The sudden absence of Castiel's heated body holding him up left a cold vacuum that Dean almost pitched forward into.

He caught himself, reaching out and catching onto the edge of the counter behind him.

His eyes swung back up to Castiel's and he recognized the look of shock and panic.

They stared at each other, standing just a few meters apart, in the deafening silence of the apartment.

The brief amount of time and distance gave Dean an opportunity to think clearly again, and the sudden rush of thoughts and emotions began to overwhelm him.

_Flirt._

_You were supposed to flirt._

_Supposed to be charming and flirt with him._

_Supposed to use your words._

_You kissed him._

_A man._

_You kissed Cas._

_Cas kissed you back. Hard._

Motion caught his eye and he turned away from Castiel to glance dazedly to his left, where Lucifer was happily chewing on large bites of Castiel's half-eaten burger.

Castiel followed his gaze.

Their eyes met again.

"I..uh, I…." Dean stammered, lost in a million different thoughts all at once.

He raised his hand cautiously, still watching Cas closely, and pointed slowly to the door on his right.

His voice came out hoarse and shaky, "I'm just…I'm gonna go now. G'night."

Castiel's mouth opened, as if he was going to say something, but Dean had already thrown open the door and left.

* * *

A/N: BOOM!

Next up: Sam hovers (Again. It's like a part-time job for the dude.)

Gabriel goes Indiana Jones to get his pineapple tarts back.

A gun. Like, a big one.

Dean is just too fucking adorable.


	19. Chapter 19-Busting out the Big Guns

Castiel stared blankly at the door.

Dean was gone.

He tried to make sense of everything. It had all happened so quickly.

Dean had come over to bring him some food. Then Castiel had become distracted. Next thing he knew, he heard the low rumble of an erotic groan come from Dean. Then Dean was pulling him into a kiss and it was….

Cas couldn't even find the words for how incredibly intoxicating kissing Dean had been. It was everything he imagined, but so much more…intense.

And Dean had initiated it. Dean, who was supposed to be straight. Dean, who had done wonderful things to Castiel's mouth and lips.

Castiel had felt the exact moment when his restraint snapped and he lost his tenuous control. He had to have more. He couldn't hold back, not under those circumstances. Not when Dean was right there, willing and wanting to be kissed back.

_Who cared why Dean was kissing him? _

_Who cared that he was straight? _

_Who cared that they had skipped a few steps somewhere?_

Not Castiel.

All that mattered in that moment was that he wasn't dreaming, and that it was happening. He had Dean in his arms.

He had felt Dean's obvious arousal against his leg. He had put pressure against it, evoking delicious gasps from the man.

He could taste Dean.

He could touch him.

Dean was his.

Then Dean had pulled away, and Castiel had been so hungry for more. He had needed Dean's lips back on his. Needed to hear more desperate sounds.

Castiel walked to his sofa and collapsed into it, throwing his arms over his face.

He had shocked Dean. He had gone too fast. Pushed too hard, too soon.

Castiel cursed himself furiously. He should've been thinking more clearly. He should've gone slow, and let Dean move at his own pace.

Instead, he had practically turned a relatively chaste kiss into a hostage situation.

Dean was straight, or at least he had been. After this Castiel wasn't sure what Dean's feelings were.

He had left. More like fled. Was he ashamed of kissing him? Was he put off by Castiel's over-zealous response?

_Shit. What did all of this mean? _

…-^o^-…

Dean wasn't sure what he was feeling.

Well, he new what the predominant feeling was. Horny.

Ten minutes down the road from Castiel's apartment, Dean pulled the impala off to the side, out of sight. He turned the radio off and sat still in the silence of the night. The only noise was the distant sound of the occasional vehicle passing by distantly on the road.

The sound of his heavy breathing filled the car. He could feel his heart beating fast in his chest.

Doing a quick full-sweep of his surroundings and confirming that he was safely away from prying eyes, Dean let his hands drop from the steering wheel to his lap. With a quick flip of his fingers, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans.

He sighed gratefully as his member sprung out of the confines into the cool air.

He gripped himself and began languidly stroking, leaning his head back against the headrest.

The memory of Castiel's flushed face appeared in his mind. The look of barely restrained want as he gazed at Dean was like nothing he had ever imagined. He had been everywhere, pressing into Dean's personal space, his body radiating with a searing heat and anchoring Dean to the counter possessively.

Dean allowed one hand to travel the path that Castiel's had taken, burning its way across the flesh beneath his shirt to brush teasingly over a nipple. He moaned as his strokes became faster.

_God, Cas had looked so fucking sexy and wrecked. He was like a different person from the restrained and thoughtful looking man Dean thought he knew. _

Was that what Cas was like every time he had sex?

How the hell did he hide that side of him beneath that boring business suit?

His breathing had become haggard and he knew he was close. Dean fumbled for the glovebox, grabbing up some loose napkins just in time as his climax overtook him. He kept the picture of Castiel's swollen lips and lust-blown eyes as he rode it out.

He gasped for air several moments later as his body quaked with lingering shudders.

He was supposed to try and flirt. Let Cas know that he was interested, and see if he was, too.

Dean grinned to himself as his breathing slowed down.

_Well, he couldn't have been much clearer that he was interested in Cas. _

_And Cas certainly didn't seem opposed to the idea,_ Dean thought with a tired chuckle.

Now they just needed take a step back and start correctly, at the beginning. He didn't want Cas to think that they were moving too fast. Hell, they had just met last week. Dean wanted to get to know him better. There was still so much of Cas that was a mystery.

They needed a first date.

…-^o^-…

Sam was literally standing right inside the entryway of their house when Dean stepped inside.

Dean had expected him to already be asleep, so when he turned around from shutting the door gently, he jumped in surprise, cursing loudly.

"HOLYSHIT! Sam!? What the fuck, dude?" He tried to catch his breath and recover his dignity.

"Hey, uh, didn't mean to scare you. I was just...worried about you."

"Shit, Sam. I'm older than you AND a grown ass adult. Why the hell are acting like I'm a fucking teenager staying out past curfew?" Sam stepped aside as Dean moved past him, taking off his coat.

"Well, no, you're right. It's just that I, uh, ran into Pamela. And she seemed…upset." He watched Dean cringe.

"Oh. Damn…I almost forgot about that." He suddenly frowned and glanced over at Sam. "What, uh, what did she say to you?"

Sam shrugged his massive shoulders and tried not to meet Dean's eye. "You know, just that she was worried about you. Um, she kinda mentioned...well, I'm not really sure-"

"God, Sam. You know what-" Dean ran his fingers over his face in agitation, "I already know what she said, and just, you- you don't need to worry about it. Alright? I'm…I'm good." Dean gave Sam a quick thumbs up to indicate everything was fine and could they please, for the love of God, not say it out loud.

Sam nodded, arms crossing his chest as he shifted his feet nervously. "Yeah. Ok. That's good. Great!" He paused, then mumbled, "So, it's…ALL good, you know, for you?" He gave a brief head nod in the direction of his brother's crotch.

"Oh, God, Sammy! Yes, for fuck's sake! I'm fine. I'm not- Everything works fine. I'm not impotent, I'm-" Dean slammed his mouth shut, almost accidentally telling his brother that he was gay. Even that didn't seem like it would be true. Technically, he figured he was only 'gay' for Cas. Was that still counted as being gay?

He fumbled with his wording and finished, "I'm just not into Pamela anymore, ok? Geez!"

He made it into his room, shutting the door firmly before Sam could ask about the state of his manhood again.

_Fuck, that was close_. Dean wasn't quite ready to let Sam in on his relationship with Cas. Sure, he had said he was open to it. But, knowing his brother, there would probably be lengthy discussions and a million uncomfortable questions.

…-^o^-…

The basement level window was tricky to get through, even for someone Gabriel's size. And when he finally wiggled is body in, the drop on the other side turned out to be a good two meters onto old cardboard boxes.

He landed heavily, his weight crushing the boxes' contents loudly.

He stilled, waiting and listening for the sounds of movements in the house above.

Nothing.

Rolling himself to his feet in the darkness, he pulled his small flashlight keychain out. It lit up a beam of light in the stirred dust. He saw the staircase and made for it, stepping as carefully as possible around the old items stacked on the floor.

When he made it up the creaking old stairs and tested the door knob, he grinned widely. Unlocked. This was going to be easier than he could've hoped.

The door opened up into the kitchen area where the streetlights shone in from outside, lighting up the small room. Gabriel crossed quietly and began his search. The first few cabinets turned up only dish ware, cups and glasses. He shut each one with great care before moving to the next. He made it to the refrigerator, intending to pass right by, when a series of photos held up by magnets caught his attention.

He shone his flashlight across them, pausing with a bright smile.

In the photos, Ruby was wearing various military outfits and posing next to other's wearing the same. She was smiling brightly in all of them.

He had known of Ruby's past in the Marines. She had spent almost twelve years serving in the military before she began working at the ADA offices. He attributed most of her militant traits to her training and experiences.

She looked happy in the pictures. He wondered briefly if she was as happy working at ADA.

She never smiled like that around him. In fact, aside from his most exceptional jabs at Crowley during meetings, he hadn't ever really seen her smile, at all. The glowing blond woman in the pictures was in her element, clearly doing what she loved. It was a side of her Gabriel may never know. His heart gave a strange squeeze.

Reaching out, he pulled off one of the pictures. It was a close-up of her smiling as she sat leaning against a wall wearing green camouflage , her rifle strapped across her chest and resting in her lap.

He slipped the photo into his pocket with a small smile and turned to continue his search.

He made it to the end of the rows of cabinets, checking every one, and even climbing to stand on the counters to search those at of his reach.

Not a single tart in sight.

Where the hell could she have stashed them? He had already searched their offices from top to bottom and come up with no trace of his tarts. They had to be here somewhere. He turned from the cabinets, shining his light over the rest of the room. It stopped on a door right beside the basement door he had entered through.

_A pantry? _He smiled wickedly as he crossed to it. _You're good, Ruby. But I'm better._

He pulled on the handle excitedly.

"Hands in the air or I'll put a hole in you, motherfucker!" Gabriel jumped in shock at the loud order that rang out from behind him, hands flying off the door handle into the air above his head.

The lights flashed on, and Gabriel winced at the brightness. There was a few seconds of still silence before Ruby's incredulous voice filled it.

"No. Fucking. Way. Gabriel?! You CANNOT be serious! I almost SHOT you, you stupid son of a bitch!" Her voice was etched with a hint of real panic.

Gabriel heaved a slow sigh of relief, keeping his hands outstretched as he slowly turned to face her guiltily. "Hey, Rube. Haha. Just, uh, thought I'd drop- HOLY FUCK!" His wide eyes landed on the twelve-gauge shotgun she held, still pointing in his direction. "What- What in the hell were you going to do with THAT?! Topple a small government?"

She recovered from her surprise quickly and growled back, "I was going to use it on the dumb motherfucker breaking into my house."

"A shotgun!? Most people have small pistols or baseball bats for that sort of thing!"

Ruby's face showed the first signs of an embarrassed flush, "Well, I have a damn shotgun! No one limps away after being shot by one of these. It's way safer."

"Not for the poor bastards on the receiving end! My God. Could you point that thing somewhere else?"

Ruby seemed to realize at that moment that the gun was still aimed at his chest. She brought it down slowly, her face reddening more. She ground out,"What in the hell are you doing in my kitchen, Mr. Novak?"

Gabriel managed a toothy smile, his heart still pounding loudly, "I was 'Gabriel' just a minute ago." Ruby made to point the gun back up at him, annoyance flashing across her face. "Whoa! Whoa, now. Mr. Novak's good. I'm fine with it, really. Geez. I was looking for my damn tarts, ok?"

The red and blue lights flashing from outside signaled that the police had shown up.

Ruby let out a frustrated sigh, "You broke into my house and almost got your ass killed over 'tarts'? They were good, but definitely not worth risking your life for, you moron!"

Gabriel's face was priceless. "You…you ATE some? How many? Please tell me you didn't eat them all."

Ruby's face went blank, but Gabriel saw her eyes dart quickly to the trash can, then back to his worriedly.

He flew over to the trash can and threw the lid off. Slowly he lifted one of several empty boxes out and stared at it. Then he turned back to Ruby, his mouth opening and closing helplessly.

A loud knock and shout of 'police!' came from the direction of the front door.

Ruby ignored them, her eyes locked onto Gabriel's, and she stuttered quietly, "I…I was only going to try one. You made it sound like they were so good, I thought…I thought I would just have one, just to see…."

Gabriel looked back down at the boxes and slowly back up to her."…Oh, you are gonna owe me-big time for this, Rube." He was having a difficult time staying upset, despite himself. She looked absolutely incredible standing there, trying to find the words to explain herself. Barely dressed. Holding a huge gun.

Totally. Worth. It.

Ruby shifted nervously. "I'm…I'm sorry, Ok? I just blacked out and they were all gone when I came to! It was like I was possessed or something." The knocking continued louder. "I, um, I need to get the door." She sat the shotgun on the counter and turned to go to the door.

"Wh-? Wait! Hey!" Gabriel shouted immediately, his voice panicked. Ruby turned to him, alarmed. "For God sakes, don't answer the door dressed like that! Throw on a robe, or five!"

Ruby's eyes snapped down. She was wearing her normal sleepware for summer, namely a small tank top with no bra and a pair of bright red cotton boyshorts.

Her huge eyes flew back up to meet Gabriel's and her face turned red enough to match her drawers.

Gabriel tried to force down a chuckle, and winked at her, "I'll get the door, huh?"

Ruby bolted from where she had been frozen to the spot, and Gabriel heard the sound of feet rapidly flying up stairs.

He walked to the front door and opened it, grinning ear to ear.

"Good morning, boys. Haven't seen you guys in a few days, huh?"

…-^o^-…

"He's out there again. Just sitting in the rain. God, it's so sad." Tessa frowned as she stared out the diner window to the hunched form of the elderly man sitting alone on the bench outside the city cemetery. "I asked Joel at the motel about him. He says the guy pays everyday in cash. And he has practically no belongings. He barely even has any groceries- the maid was saying he keeps the fridge almost empty. And his trash is just empty packets of cigarettes."

"That doesn't make him your problem, Tess." Sheriff Henricksen called from his seat, where he was reading the paper." He cast a quick look out the window. "Probably just a hobo passing through. He'll clear out in a few days."

Tessa frowned. "I don't think so. I think he has someone buried in the cemetery. I've seen him coming in and out." She turned and called out to her boss behind the counter. "Hey, Chuck? Can I bring him in here? The poor guy is going to get sick if he stays sitting out there in the rain. I'll pay for something to eat for him."

Hendricksen sighed heavily.

From the back, Chuck's head appeared. "What? Are you talking about the old man again?"

"She wants to adopt him, I think." Hendricksen murmured from his seat. The dark haired waitress threw and annoyed look at him.

Chuck ignored him and turned to Tessa with a small, half-smile. "Yeah, go ahead and pull him in, Tess. I'll set him up with a hot meal. It's fine."

Tessa beamed at him and ran to pull on her jacket.

"Could be making trouble for yourself, there, Chuck. Who knows what that guy's story is? Probably a drunk." He realized who he was talking to and cringed apologetically. "Sorry. Didn't mean it like that."

Chuck gave him a small smile, shrugging. "Don't worry. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom so you have no where else to go but up. Give the old guy a break, huh, Frank?"

Hendricksen huffed a sigh, but nodded.

…-^o^-…

Dean snuck away from the garage at around nine o'clock that morning, ducking into the car lot behind it so he couldn't be overheard.

He pulled his phone out and stared at it, hands jittery.

_God, why was this so hard? How many times had he done this kind of thing? Hundreds? But every time he prepared to make the call, his throat seemed to close up and choke him. What was the worst that could happen? He already knew that Cas liked him. That was supposed to be the hardest part. So, what was the big deal?_

He shook himself and dialed the number.

…-^o^-…

Castiel was a bag of raw nerves. He had drank two cups of coffee already this morning, and was working on his third.

Lack of sleep was hardly his biggest problem.

He couldn't stop thinking about Dean and last night.

_What did it mean? _

_Where did they stand now? _

_Was Dean at work right now, regretting his actions and dreading seeing Castiel again? _

_Should Castiel not go to the concert? Did Dean even want him there anymore?_

Castiel hadn't tasted alcohol on Dean's breath last night. Just the smoky taste of coffee. He looked down at his cup. The scent and taste was reminding him of Dean's kiss.

His cell phone began ringing, jerking his gaze from the coffee cup.

He picked the phone up and felt a wave of panic crash through his entire body.

The caller ID said 'Dean'.

Dean was calling him.

_Oh, God. Was he going to say he was sorry for last night? That it was a mistake? He doesn't know what happened? That they should probably never see each other again?_

Castiel gasped for breaths before bringing the phone to his ear, hand trembling.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cas. I'm, uh, sorry to call you at work."

"No, it's fine. Um, what did you need, Dean?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Finally, Dean's voice came across shakily. "I wanted to, um, apologize for last night, first."

Castiel felt his world start crashing in on him. _So, Dean did regret kissing him, just like he thought. There was a roaring in his ears as he tried to breath. _

"And, I was hoping, you know, if you were interested. Um, maybe we could go out today. Like, well, on an actual…date." His voice cracked, and there was silence on the line.

"...what?" Castiel had barely understood what Dean was saying over his own distressed thoughts. Had Dean really just asked him on a 'date'? It was impossible, right?

"Yeah, well, you know. I, uh, I know I kinda jumped the gun a little last night." Castiel heard him give a hesitant chuckle into the phone before pushing on, "I was really just hoping that, maybe, you and I could try it over, the right way. I, I really am sorry about last night. I don't want you to think I do that kind of thing all the time. I just…like you…a lot."

There was more silence on the line as Castiel looked around his office. He needed some kind of reality check. Anything to let him know that he really was awake. Did Dean just confess to him?

"Shit, Cas…you gotta help me out here. I, I need you to say something…." He sounded desperate, his voice strained.

"You want to go on a date? With me?" Castiel was still trying to keep up with the conversation. Had he really heard it right?

He heard Dean's breathy laugh. "Yeah, Cas. With you."

"I…I would like that. Very much." He added.

"Great! I'll, um pick you up this evening. Six o'clock? Dress casual, ok?" Dean's voice sounded excited. Castiel could imagine the warm smile painted across his face.

"Ok, Dean. I'll, um, see you tonight. For our…date."

"Yeah! Alright. Um, great! Thanks, Cas!"

Castiel sat in silent shock after the call ended, replaying the call in his mind.

Dean wanted to go on a date with him. He was…upset…that he had kissed Castiel before they could go on a date first. He was actually sorry about skipping straight to first base. Then, Castiel had practically carried them both sprinting past second heading to third. And it 'bothered'Dean. Dean wanted to go on a legitimate date.

Castiel had no idea how to handle the man. Almost all of Castiel's previous boyfriends had considered dating as the unfortunate requirement that had to take place before they could move on to the good stuff. The goal had been sex from the get-go. Castiel had always accepted it as the norm.

_What kind of person got upset about kissing too soon, then excited about going on a date?_

Dean was going to drive Castiel out of his mind if he kept being this perfect.

* * *

Next up: A first date!

Burgers (because Dean really liked watching Cas eat the first one).

Family grievances.

Ultimate Frisbee.

Russians, debts, and an embarrassing video of Castiel on Gabriel's phone.


	20. Chapter 20-Playing Dirty

Castiel spent the rest of the day in a happy daze, which was unfortunately interrupted by frequent panic attacks.

_What was Dean's plan for the date? Were they going to be eating a large dinner or just snacking? What was the weather going to be like? Were they going to be outside much anyway?_

At lunch he had rushed home, tearing his bedroom apart as Lucifer watched from atop the bed.

He needed something casual to wear. Dean had specifically said 'casual'. Most of his wardrobe consisted of suits and ties. The small portion that was considered casual had been his older clothing, from his college days. The outfit he had worn to the Tuesday meet-up had been his best option, but he didn't want to wear it again.

_Plus, Dean hadn't said what they would be doing this evening. Would a band T-shirt even be appropriate? _

_What was Dean's idea of casual, anyway? A T-shirt and shorts with flip-flops? Or a collared shirt and slacks?_

He had finally selected a dark-red shirt with a simple white and blue plaid button down shirt. If he turned out to be under dressed for where Dean was taking them, he could at least button the shirt up. He matched it with light-blue jeans and a pair of dark brown oxfords. There really weren't many other options available in his limited wardrobe.

He was tempted to try the entire outfit on and send the picture to Charlie for approval, but he was concerned that she would ask him too many questions. Castiel could hardly process that he was asked out by Dean, much less tell someone else without stuttering. Plus, he had used up his lunch break just trying to find the right clothes.

He raced back to work with just a bit more peace of mind. At least his outfit was decided upon.

…-^o^-…

Castiel was interrupted from his bouts of panic by his older brother.

Gabriel's arrival was noted immediately by Castiel. He had been worriedly monitoring the phones on his desk and Charlie's as inconspicuously as possible, heart stopping each time they rang. An order for another Think Tank could de-rail the evening. Similiarly, the ding of the elevator arriving could also be the harbinger of last-minute work.

Castiel found himself sitting on the edge of his office chair, ears tuned to all sound coming through the partially cracked door to his office.

At the sound of Gabriel's voice, Castiel's mind suddenly began racing.

If Gabe found out about the date, then he was sure to start back up on his match-making schemes. Castiel was impressed that the 'tart plan' had managed to successfully dissuade his brother so far. His luck couldn't hold out much longer.

He barely had time to collect his thoughts before Gabriel was pushing through his door. He had a sucker sticking out of his grinning mouth as he made his way to the chairs and kicked his feet up.

"What's the plan for tonight, baby bro?"

Castiel immediately locked-up with shock.

_Did Gabriel somehow know about the date? How could he have possibly heard already? Phone taps? It wouldn't be the first time, actually._ Castiel's eyes swept to the phone nervously before turning up to Gabriel. He asked as innocently as possible, "Tonight?"

Gabriel pulled his sucker out and swung it for emphasis as he spoke, "Yeah, Cassie, tonight. Were you planning to hang out with your new friends again? Maybe gaze longingly at a certain green-eyed man's tush?"

"Gabriel…." Castiel practically growled the warning.

"Now don't act like that! I'm just wondering what your schedule is like, not trying to stick my nose into your Soap Opera love life, again. Honest." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Castiel.

"My 'schedule' is none of your concern, Gabriel. And there is no Soap Opera between me and Dean. I happen to be taking Lucifer in to the Rescue this evening for…de-worming and…cat training."

Gabriel's face scrunched up in confusion as he looked at his little brother. "Wait. You mean you still have that little fuzzball? I thought you took it in to get adopted last Saturday? And you named it 'Lucifer'? Why?"

Castiel sighed in annoyance and turned to his computer to feign working, "It's not that unusual of a name. Both you and I are named after angels. Lucifer is an angel, too."

Gabriel huffed a laugh. "I don't remember our name-sakes falling from heaven after attempting to screw over the human race, Cassie."

"Well, I like it. And to answer your other question, the adoption process is harder than I expected. He's, uh, not really got much going for him, you know?"

Gabriel eyed his brother suspiciously, groaning loudly, "Oh, no, Cassie. Please tell me you're not getting attached to it?"

"HIS name is Lucifer, and I'm not getting attached. I just… I'm responsible for him. I want him to find a good home." Castiel refused to look at his brother as he mumbled the last sentence.

At least Gabe hadn't questioned his plans for this evening. Hopefully his little lie would keep Gabriel off his back for a bit longer. Just long enough for Castiel to sort out what exactly he and Dean had together.

Gabriel sighed tiredly, leaning almost completely backwards over the arm of the chair, his hair grazing the floor. "Whatever, Cassie. You go do your 'cat thing' tonight, then. I'm not really up for a wild party anyway. I barely slept yesterday, as it was."

Castiel frowned as he watched Gabriel swing up tiredly. "I hope you didn't get up to anything that involved the local police again. You know, even they have their limits. And it wouldn't be a smart for your mugshot to end up on the front page of the local paper. The board is already pretty fed up with your antics."

Gabriel rolled his eyes, smiling. "I'll have you know, baby bro, that I spent the wee hours of the morning in the company of a beautiful, barely-dressed blond-"

"No! I absolutely do NOT want to hear about your sex-life, Gabriel." Castiel cringed at just the mention of his brother and sex in the same sentence.

Gabriel chuckled to himself, and rolled out of the chair. "Well, in that case, I'll just mosey back upstairs and find Ruby. She's been giving me the royal treatment all day. I'm gonna milk it for all it's worth."

He paused at the door, as if just remembering something. "Oh! We're still going to the concert tomorrow evening, right?"

Castiel barely gave him a nod, not looking up from his computer screen.

He missed Gabriel's broad grin, and the wink he threw to the secretaries as he shut the door to Castiel's office.

…-^o^-…

Castiel was making a special effort to tame his wild hair with gel when he heard the doorbell.

He had been expecting the sound at any time now, but he still almost choked in surprise when it sounded.

He took a deep, steadying breath as he went to answer it.

Dean smiled at him nervously as the door swung open. "Hey, Cas."

Castiel stood awkwardly at the door, trying not to fidget as he smiled nervously back at the man. "Hello, Dean."

They stood there facing each other with flushed faces like embarrassed teenagers for several seconds, before Castiel realized he was being rude, again. "Oh. You can come in. I'm just about ready." He moved from the door and watched as Dean passed by him.

Dean was wearing a pair of nice blue jeans and a green shirt, with a brown jacket over it. Castiel felt the familiar heat of attraction in his gut. It seemed like Dean could make any outfit he wore look incredible. Castiel couldn't help but wonder how fantastic he would look wearing nothing.

He shook himself from his quickly gutter-bound thoughts as Dean turned to face him. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled something out.

Castiel stared at the item. It looked like a strange plush character, shaped like a yellow pill and wearing some sort of blue coverall outfit.

Dean chuckled. "It's, uh, for Lucifer. It's called a minion. It's from a kid's movie. I figured Lucifer should have a 'minion', because, well, Lord Satan and all that…." Dean's face was growing red as fumbled with the toy, then just held it out to Castiel.

Castiel smiled brightly, and chuckled as he looked at the plushie. "That's very considerate of you, Dean. I'm sure Lucifer will love it." He moved to where Lucifer was crouched under the entertainment system, eying Dean warily. "I think he's still a little shy around you. Sorry." He sat the plushie down near the cat.

Dean smiled and shrugged. "No worries. I'm sure we'll get to be good friends again in no time."

Castiel flushed at the meaning behind Dean's words. He was expecting to be spending more time around Castiel. In his apartment.

Castiel finally looked over to Dean and froze when he realized Dean's eyes were locked on him. Castiel had the uncontrollable urge to lick his lips, just to see Dean's reaction.

Dean pried his eyes up to meet Castiel's. "Cas, I, uh," His voice cracked and he cleared it and tried again. "I think we should limit this date to, you know, just a few light kisses. I, I don't want to…get distracted, like last night." His face turned a slightly red at the mention of the abrupt kiss, and his eyes glanced to the breakfast bar guiltily.

Castiel nodded. "That would probably be best. We can just get to know each other and talk tonight. Let me put my shoes on and we can head out." Castiel smiled encouragingly at Dean.

Once Castiel put on his shoes and set food out for Lucifer, they headed down to the street, where Dean led them over to a black Chevrolet. Castiel stopped and stared at it. Dean noticed Cas wasn't moving and cast a glance over at him.

"You good, Cas?"

Castiel looked from Dean to the car with a growing smile. "Yeah. I was just thinking, your car really suits you. An Impala, huh?" His voice sounded impressed.

Dean beamed back, "Yep. Used to be my Dad's. Nineteen sixty-seven. Still runs like a dream." He continued forward, opening the passenger side door, and turned to allow Cas to get in.

Castiel blinked in surprise.

It took Dean a few seconds before he realized why Cas was staring. "Oh. Shit, sorry." He pulled his hand off the door handle quickly. "I, uh, I didn't mean to, you know, treat you like a…." He trailed off.

They stared at each other in yet another extended silence before they both suddenly erupted into giddy chuckles.

"I'm sorry, Cas. I guess I really have no idea how to do this, you know?"

Castiel gave him a warm smile as he moved past Dean to seat himself in the passenger seat. "Don't be sorry, Dean. You're doing great. I'm just…impressed by your manners." He saw Dean flush beautifully as he hurried around the car and jumped into the driver's seat.

As soon as he turned the car on, the radio cut on, blaring out music loudly. Dean flinched and his hands flew over to the knobs, trying to turn the volume down. He cast a panicked glance to Cas, and saw that the man was trying not to laugh.

Dean coughed to cover his embarrassment. "So, uh, I figured we could get some food. I know a place that I think you'll really like."

…-^o^-…

At first glance, the small diner on the city square looked run down. There seemed to be a lot of people standing outside, too. It wasn't until Dean led Castiel inside that he noticed how packed the small establishment actually was.

Castiel saw Dean give a quick wave over the crowd to a heavy-set woman at the register. She smiled broadly and shouted out to a thin, pretty waitress. The young woman turned, and her eyes lit up when she spotted Dean at the door. She finished taking her table's order, then rushed over excitedly.

"Dean! How have you been? I've got you a table reserved at the back, like you asked. It's a good thing you called ahead." She ushered the two men over to a corner booth with windows facing out to the edge of the city park.

Dean slid in on one side and Castiel took the seat across from him. The waitress gave Castiel a quick, curious glance before turning her attention back to Dean.

"I wish we weren't so busy. I'd love to catch up with you sometime, Dean." She gave him a smile and a wink.

Dean grinned back, casting a quick glance at Castiel, before stating, "Yeah, maybe another time Christine. How about you just set us up with two T-Rex Combos. I'll have a soda to drink." He handed her his menu.

The waitress looked a little put-out by Dean's lack of interest, but she recovered quickly by turning her charms to Castiel. "And how about you, handsome? What'll you have to drink?"

Castiel, who had been fighting back a spark of jealousy over the waitress's familiarity with Dean, watched with a small amount of amusement as Dean's mouth twitched into a frown at the word 'handsome'. "I'll have an Ice Tea with lemon, Christine. Thank you."

"No problem, hon." She took the menu from Castiel's hand slowly, not breaking eye-contact, then sauntered off.

"I'm gonna guess…old girlfriend." Castiel muttered thoughtfully, turning a small smirk to Dean.

Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then said apologetically, "Practically pre-historic. You know how it is, um, small town, everybody knows everybody. We really weren't serious, just a high school thing."

"I understand, Dean. Be thankful you don't have to run into any of my ex's around here. If you think she comes on strong, you'd be shocked…."

Dean released a grateful sigh. "Thanks, Cas." He fiddled with his silverware for a moment before starting, "So, um, I guess this is our opportunity to talk about embarrassing ex's and weird brothers, and all that."

"Yeah, I guess so. Where do you think we should begin?"

"Well, you've met Sam. He's pretty straightforward. Total nerd. He's going to school to study law and criminal justice. I'm actually, uh, pretty proud of him, you know. I didn't really have the brains for that kind of stuff, that's why I work on cars mostly."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Do you enjoy working on cars?"

Christine appeared again, setting their drinks down in front of them and leaning close to Castiel. "Did you want anything else, sweetie? Maybe some sugar packets or Splenda?"

"He's good, Christine. Thanks." Dean stated stiffly from across the table. The waitress gave him a quick pout and pointed look, which Dean returned, tilting his head and eyes toward kitchen indicating for her to get back to work. She rolled her eyes, and huffed as she left again.

Dean saw Castiel's upraised eyebrows and just smiled and shrugged helplessly. "Anyway, yeah, I love working on cars. I actually earned an associates in car mechanics, plus I have my ASE certification. It's just, you know, not easy for me to do school work so I haven't tried for much else." It sounded like a poor excuse, Dean knew. "What about you? You must have spent years in college, huh?"

Castiel frowned slightly, and shifted in is seat. "Well, yeah. I attended Berkeley in California. I did okay, I guess, but to be honest, uh, there was a LOT of partying happening while I was there." He glanced nervously up at Dean, and saw that he was gaping at him.

"Hold it. Wait. Are you telling me YOU partied hard in college? At a business school?"

Castiel gave him an embarrassed smile. "Yeah, I guess I did. To be fair, I was dragged around by my friend, Balthazar, mostly. He's, uh, very…wild. Kind of…shameless and opulent. He and Gabriel have to be kept in separate states-it's practically a federal law. All I did was follow along with him, but it got pretty crazy sometimes."

Dean couldn't help but grin as Castiel reminisced. Then, his mind sputtered out an unwelcome question, and he didn't quite catch his mouth in time to stop it. "Was he one of your ex's?" Dean grimaced as the words spewed out.

Castiel met Dean's eye and admitted, "Yes. We had a few flings back in college. We, uh, would NEVER have worked out together, though. He's my best friend, still, but…well, he's just too much. Small doses of his personality is all I can really handle, you know?" He hoped that he conveyed his feelings well enough for Dean to understand that there was no real threat from Balthazar. He watched as Dean processed the information slowly, then nodded.

"Alright. Yeah, I mean, I've got a few friends like that, too. Not bad people, just…uh, not really right for me. I get it." He smiled as he thought of Pamela, and several others. "I even had one chick go 'Carrie Underwood' on the Impala." He cringed, remembering that incident..

Castiel was giving him a strange look and tilting his head. "I don't understand that reference."

"Carrie Underwood? You know, the song 'Before He Cheats'? Oh, man. It's intense. And I didn't even cheat on her! I mean, she had a very loose definition of cheating. She used a tire iron to smash my baby up. Me, Benny and my dad actually caught her half-way through it, but no way we were getting near her, man! She was seven shades of pissed. The police had the get her with OC spray and tackle her to the ground. It took six of them…." Dean shuddered as Castiel chuckled across from him.

The way the sun was shining in through the window was catching Castiel's eyes perfectly, lighting them up like they were glowing blue. Dean felt the tightening in his chest as he watched Castiel's eyes crinkle shut in amusement.

Everything about Castiel was perfect. His deep, raspy chuckles. His calm, reflective demeanor. His sense of humor. And, of course, his perfectly chiseled features. He had an appearance that demanded respect and exuded authority, but his personality was humble and friendly.

Dean flashed to their kiss the previous night.

His personality apparently had a few hidden aspects tucked away, too.

_God, to unlock that side of Cas…._

_ To draw out that side of him again…._

"…Dean?" Dean shook himself, his eyes locking onto Castiel's. He saw a sharpness in them, and maybe…a hint of the desire like last night.

Castiel leaned forward carefully, not breaking their eye contact as he warned lowly, "If you keep looking at me like that, I wont be able to stick to your 'kissing only' rule."

Dean was only shocked for a moment, before returning, "Damn it, Cas. Don't try to threaten me with a good time." He winked and grinned widely, and it was Castiel's turn to gape, speechless.

They stared at each other, their heated eyes locked together.

They were interrupted as Christine arrived with their food. Dean watched as Castiel's eyes landed on their matching plates with something close to shock and awe. As the waitress hurried away, Dean gave Cas a toothy grin.

"Yep, the T-Rex burger. King of all burger patties. Just wait until you try it."

Castiel couldn't imagine where to begin. The burger was enormous, stacked too high to possibly eat by the mouthful. But, god, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His eyes moved past the massive burger and fell on Dean's bright smiling face, watching him eagerly. Scratch that-second most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"I, uh, felt pretty bad about the burger last night. Gotta hand it to Lucifer, though. He didn't waste any time taking advantage of our, uh, pre-occupation…." Dean flushed, grinning.

Castiel grinned back, also remembering. "I appreciate the thoughtfulness, Dean. Now, how do you eat this thing?"

They spent the next thirty minutes trying to make headway on their burgers, barely speaking and mostly making appreciative grunting and groaning noises. Dean tapped the edge of the table to signify 'tapping out' as he finished chewing his mouthful tiredly. Castiel tried to push on, fully enjoying the taste, but worried about his stomach's capacity to hold much more food. He finally threw his knife and fork down in defeat five minutes after Dean.

They both leaned back in their seats, breathing heavily.

"That…that was the most amazing burger, I have ever had. Ever." Castiel moaned.

Dean chuckled across from him. "I thought you'd like it."

Christine suddenly appeared at the table, smiling as she took in their worn out faces. She turned to Dean, and asked, "Whatd'ya say, Dean. Gonna go for a slice of apple pie today?"

Dean groaned and answered without even opening his eyes, "There is always room for pie, Chris. Two of 'em. In to-go boxes, please."

Castiel chuckled, as the waitress shook her head, smiling and walked away again.

"Pie, huh?" Castiel smiled as he forced himself to sit up straight. Dean grinned at him, pulling himself up, too.

"Hell, yes. Pie is my favorite food group, dude. Cherry pies, pecan pies, rhubarb pies-all of 'em." He sighed happily.

"Hmm. I'll have to remember that." Castiel smiled thoughtfully.

Dean eyed him warily. "Don't tell me…you know how to make pies, Cas?"

Castiel gave him a short nod, smiling. "You didn't think my culinary skills ended with just omelets, did you?"

Dean almost said without thinking, 'God, just marry me now.' But, he caught the words before they left his mouth, realizing how dangerous they could be. If it were any other date, any other person, he could get away with it just sounding like teasing or joking. But, with Cas, Dean wasn't sure he could keep the longing out of his voice. The thought terrified him.

Castiel saw Dean's face abruptly turn serious. "Dean? Are you alright?" He leaned in, tilting his head to the side as he tried to assess Dean's mood.

Dean stared back at him, pulled again into amazement at the man's incredible looks. " Actually, Cas, something's been bothering me."

Castiel frowned, looking intensely at Dean and waiting.

Suddenly, Dean's hands shot out across the table and latched onto Castiel's head, rubbing furiously. Dean pulled away as Castiel was still frozen in shock. "There. Yeah, much better!" Dean grinned proudly at his work.

Castiel lifted his hand up to his hair, feeling the wild mass. All his hard work earlier, wasted.

Somehow, as he looked across at Dean, he couldn't manage to be upset. He recalled Tuesday, at the Road House, when the waitress had commented on his hair and Dean had grabbed his hand as he reached up to fix it.

_So, Dean liked his hair out of control?_ Castiel felt his heart flutter. Dick had hated it. He had fussed every time there was a piece out of place. Castiel had begun to grow self-conscious about it.

Christine appeared at last, setting their two pie boxes on the table along with their table's check. She gave Castiel a wink as she also slid a napkin toward him, then trotted away.

Castiel picked up the napkin and barely had time to register that her phone number was scribbled on it, before Dean snatched it from his hand, crumbling it up in annoyance.

Castiel bit back a chuckle and pulled out his wallet, realizing that Dean was doing the same.

Dean stared at him, looking alarmed and a little confused about how to proceed. "Um, I wanna pay for both of our food, Cas. Since, you know, I asked you out. Is that…okay?"

Castiel frowned, then nodded slowly. "I'll get our next bill, then." Dean's face broke into a relieved smile and he put the money down.

He picked up their pie boxes and and they headed out.

"I thought it would be fun to grab some coffee and sit by the park. You know, just talk some more. I still have a lot of questions." Dean smiled as he led them to a coffee hut by a fountain. Castiel smiled his approval at the plan.

As they waited in line, they chatted.

"Age?" Dean asked.

"Thirty-one. You?"

"Twenty-nine. Favorite movie?"

Castiel thought hard. "City of Angels, probably. You?"

"Uh…Serenity, Cabin in the Woods, Clue-'

"Dean…." Castiel interrupted.

Dean just shrugged and grinned, "I like movies. All of them, pretty much."

Once they had their drinks, which Castiel insisted on paying for, Dean led them down the small pathway through the park and stopped at a bench next to several large fields and a playground.

They sat down, scooting close, but not enough to touch. Dean opened his pie container, smiling, as Castiel sipped his coffee and pretended to watch the people around them.

"So, I've met Gabriel. He's a pretty, uh, unique character. And you told me about your mother passing. What about your dad? Are you two pretty close? I, uh, heard from Sam that he's like, a big deal." Dean asked hesitantly as he took his first bite of pie.

Castiel thought about the question for a moment as he people-watched. "We are...similar in personality, I guess." Dean waited patiently for Cas to continue. "He's kind of…a strange man. You would think that a man who has so much investment in his job and so many responsibilities would have trouble keeping track of his kids' lives. But he didn't."

Dean frowned, thinking. "So, you mean, he checked in on you guys a lot to make sure you were good?"

Castiel shook his head, and turned to Dean, meeting his eyes. "No, I mean he was always there. ALWAYS. He never missed a single school play, graduation, parent/teacher conference. Nothing. He even showed up to sit with us a dental appointments." Castiel smiled gently. "There was one time when I was about eleven. I was at the park with Gabriel, and a coach ran over and asked if he could draft me for a little league game that was going to start soon, because they were short on players. About forty-five minutes in to the game, I went up to bat and looked over to see if Gabriel was watching. My dad was right beside him." Castiel shook his head slowly. "He was supposed to have been in meetings all day. I asked Naomi about it, afterwards. She's his secretary," Castiel explained at Dean's lost look, "She said Gabriel called him and he excused himself from the meeting to drive over."

Dean laughed. "He sounds like an awesome father, Cas."

Castiel nodded, but frowned. "He is, but… he took our mother's passing pretty bad. He's always there, but, it's like there's a part of him that isn't. It's not his fault. Gabriel didn't handle it too well, either. I was still really young, so I barely understood what was happening. They weren't so lucky."

Dean touched Cas's shoulder and asked quietly, "What was it?"

"Cancer. In her lungs. The doctors said second hand smoke wasn't the cause, but our dad never smoked again after that. I think he blamed himself anyway." Castiel stated grimly.

Realizing that Dean was silent beside him, Castiel tried to change the topic. "What about you family?"

Dean shrugged, "It's, uh, kind of embarrassing. My parents are…hunters."

Castiel looked at him with interest. "What do they hunt?"

Dean cringed and looked away. "You know, um, deer, bears, crocodiles…the occasional evil spirit…."

He muttered the last part, but Castiel still heard him. "Your parent hunt ghosts?" He asked, smiling as Dean's face reddened.

"Yeah, uh, they're kind of," Castiel watched as Dean ran his hand over the back of his neck. "Well, you ever heard of the show 'Breaking Myths'?" Castiel nodded thoughtfully. "Well, they are kind of… on it. Frequently. Well, less frequently now, thank God."

Castiel was grinning as Dean stuffed a large bite of pie into his mouth, chewing ruefully. "That's really amazing, Dean. Your parents are like TV stars, then?"

Dean swallowed, eying Cas dubiously, "I guess. I mean, they were pretty normal when me and Sam were growing up. Sure, we took a few more camping trips than most kids, and had more lessons with guns, but otherwise, perfectly normal. Then Sam graduates high school, and I shit you not, the NEXT day they were loading up the camper and saying good-bye. It was insane. Then, I'm watching TV a few months later and what do I see. Dear old Mom and Dad on that weird-ass show. They were hunting- get this - a 'basilisk'. Yeah, as in, a mythological snake that turns you to stone. And there's my mom and dad, wading through the forests of Virginia while some moron does commentary. My mom- Mary Winchester, who cheered for my team at soccer practice- threw a knife twenty meters straight through the skull of a cotton-mouth snake. Do you have any idea how freaked out I-, I mean, Sam was? The poor guy was in shock for weeks! It's just not…healthy." Dean finished, holding his head in his hands.

"Well, I think your parents sound fantastic!" Castiel said emphatically when Dean finally ended his rant.

Dean looked up and saw Cas smiling at him. He groaned and mumbled, "I'm just glad they settled down finally. They were hunting for the 'Bell Witch' or something and fell in love with Tennessee. They got a cabin out there, so Sam and I moved back into the family house to save money for college bills."

"It sounds like a good deal, then. And, as long as your parents are happy, then I think it's great."

Dean turned to smile at him and their shoulders bumped.

_When had they gotten so close to each other?_ Dean thought. He didn't care, though. Cas's face was close, Dean could smell the coffee from his breath. Caramel latte.

Castiel's eyes were locked onto his, too. They were getting closer. Like they were both being pulled slowly together, leaning toward each other's body heat.

"Dean! Perfect timing, man!" Dean and Castiel both turned guiltily towards the voice.

A man was running from across the large field, waving excitedly.

"Mark? Hey, what's up dude?" Dean was on his feet grasping the man's hand warmly.

"Not much. Been a while, huh? Hey, listen- we could use a few more players for ultimate frisbee. Can I count you guys in?" He gestured across the field to a large area marked off by cones. There was a group of about ten people standing around.

Dean smiled with excitement for a moment, before he suddenly turned nervously to Castiel. "Oh, uh, actually we're kind of-"

"I'm down." Castiel stated, shooting Dean a challenging smirk.

Dean's eyes lit back up even brighter. "You sure? You might get your Oxfords dirty." He teased.

Castiel's smile got bigger and he walked past Mark asking, "We can be on opposite teams, right?" Mark grinned and nodded, following Castiel back to the field.

Dean was left standing alone, with a small knot of dread forming in his stomach.

Castiel had looked…confident.

…-^o^-…

Forty-five minutes later, Dean's team was huddled together, gasping for breath, as they tried to come up with a plan.

"Where the hell did you find that guy, Dean?" One of his teammates asked while wheezing.

"Keep your shit together, Sal, we still have a shot at this!" Dean answered angrily.

"I don't know, Dean. He's just…he's just so fast. Like a goddamn ninja!" Dean scowled at Julia, Mark's wife, as she was hunched over in exhaustion.

"How was I supposed to know he was going to be so good at this? Am I damn psychic?" Dean grumbled to the group. He looked across the field, where Castiel was standing, staring smugly across at Dean. Several of his teammates were giving him pats on the back.

"Do you…think we should, maybe, trip him or something?" This came from a shorter man that Dean hadn't met before.

A low growl from Dean shut the man up instantly.

"Shit. We have to think of something-preferably NOT something that could cause permanent injury." Sal hissed pointedly at the short man. The rest of the group nodded.

"Your friend must have some kind of weakness, dude." Dean frowned over to Gregg. They had been in several sports together in high school, and were more used to the pressure of tough athletics.

"I don't know, man. I haven't really gotten to know him that well. Hell, I didn't even know he was in such good shape! I just don't-" Dean froze mid-sentence. The rest of the team watched worriedly as an evil looking grin spread across Dean's face.

He slowly stepped back, casting a glance toward where Cas was observing him from. Watching carefully, Dean gripped his shirt and pulled it over his head, throwing it off the field.

From across the field, Castiel's smile disappeared and his eyes widened.

Dean grinned and turned back to his confused team members. "I think we're good now. I was getting, uh, overheated."

The next play started with Dean's team catching the frisbee and advancing forward.

Just as Dean had anticipated, Castiel was hardly moving around the field. Instead, the man was barely able to keep his eyes off Dean. Several opportunities to knock the frisbee out of the air were blatantly missed as Castiel's attention was pulled to Dean.

Dean was thrilled that his plan had been successful. His team was quickly earning points and catching up to the other team. But, he soon realized that his plan had a small hitch.

The attention that Cas was directing at Dean was causing him to become painfully aroused. With every glance toward toward the man, Dean found himself becoming more and more turned on. The guy was like a blue-eyed laser beam of lust. He stayed locked onto Dean no matter where he went on the field. His eyes had no trace of the former amusement. Instead, they looked hungry.

Dean quickly began to feel like the game was taking on a more…primal feel. Almost like Dean was being stalked from a distance by a jungle cat.

After a few more points were scored, Dean saw Castiel run over to Mark, who was on his team and the person who was responsible for covering Dean. He said something to the man. Mark looked over at Dean, then to Cas, then back to Dean. His face split into a knowing grin, and he winked and nodded to Cas.

Suddenly, Cas was moving over to cover Dean instead of Mark.

_Oh, fuck. Fuckity fuck fucking fuck._

Castiel arrived next to Dean and gave him a devilish smile.

The play shifted, and Dean began to move forward to give his team an opening. From his side, out of the earshot of anybody else, he heard Cas mutter, "I'm so fucking hard right now."

Dean stopped so suddenly his body almost toppled over from momentum. He knew his mouth was hanging open as he spun around to look at Cas.

"Are you hard, too, Dean?" Castiel grinned and suddenly darted forward, past Dean, and intercepted a throw meant for him.

Dean stared dumbly for several moments as the players ran around him.

_Oh, shit._ Dean thought to himself, realizing Castiel's game plan.

Castiel returned quickly, as the play moved back towards Dean. As he shot by, Dean tried to get his mind back in the game. He followed Castiel as they sprinted to the end of the field and prepared for a throw there way.

Dean waited nervously for the play to reach their end of the field, dreading more words from Cas.

"I bet if I tackle you, I could cop a feel without anyone even seeing it." Castiel suggested thoughtfully.

Dean inhaled deeply, the tightening in his pants almost doubling him over. "Nnnnm." Dean groaned, "You play dirty, Cas."

"Says the guy with no shirt," Cas returned grinning.

Dean grumbled, "Maybe I was just hot. Ever think of that?"

Castiel practically purred, "Oh, yeah. I can confirm that. Very hot…." His eyes wandered down Dean's chest to the the small patch of hair leading into his pants.

Dean groaned, but Cas was already darting away, catching the frisbee as it entered the end zone, earning another point for their team.

The teams went back to their starting positions, and began again. This time Dean was waiting anxiously for Cas to arrive. As much of a huge turn on as this was, Dean was positive that he wouldn't last much longer. He had to end this before it got too out of hand.

The man jogged over smirking as his low voice rumbled with false concern, "You look a little pale there, Dean. Feeling okay?"

"I think we had a minor misunderstanding, Cas. How about we just play the rest of the game in silence, huh?" Dean tried not to sound as desperate as he was.

"How about you put your shirt back on." Castiel suggested, raising his eyebrow and grinning.

Dean checked where the frisbee was and jogged hurriedly over to his shirt on the sideline. He could sense Castiel shadowing him closely as he moved.

Dean snatched up the shirt quickly and prepared to lift it up to pull it over his head.

"Dean." He turned at Castiel's voice a few feet away. The man was practically devouring him with his eyes. He watched as Castiel's lips curved up. "Slowly, please."

Dean felt his face flush hotly and his pants tighten even more. Nevertheless, he went extra slow as he pulled the shirt on. Once it was past his head and settling on his waist, he moved to jog back to the field, passing by Castiel.

"You are NOT a nice person, Cas." Dean muttered, but he couldn't fight back his grin as Castiel's deep, breathy laughter rang out behind him.

…-^o^-…

The game ended when the sun set too low for the players to see anymore.

The group began to say their good-byes and disperse.

Mark caught Dean, "Hey, did you two already have plans for the rest of the evening?"

Dean glanced over to Cas, who was smiling a few feet away. "Um, not really, I guess. Were you planning to go somewhere?"

"Yeah, a few of us are heading over to Ivanov's Bar. You two should join us."

Dean's face brightened as he turned to look at Castiel. "What do you say, Cas? Up for a few more hours of fun?"

Castiel smiled and nodded, and Dean beamed back at him, before turning to Mark. "We're in."

…-^o^-…

As Castiel soon discovered, Ivanov's was not a bar, as he had first thought. Or at least, not a traditional type of bar.

It was a karaoke bar.

As they entered the lobby and placed their order for a private room, Castiel looked around with confusion. The bright walls and ornate pictures looked…familiar.

He caught Dean's eye, and the man strolled over and asked, "Something wrong, Cas? You look worried."

Castiel shook his head slowly, trying to rid himself of the strange sense of Déjà vu.

As the group received their keys and moved away from the main desk, Castiel's eyes landed on one of the employees.

"Oh, shit."

But, it was too late. The large man behind the counter had looked up, instantly recognizing Castiel. He shouted something loudly in Russian, and almost immediately several large men appeared and surrounded him and Dean.

The man from behind the counter came over, a huge grin spread across his face, the light glinting off several gold teeth.

"Uh. Cas. Is there something you wanna tell me?" Dean whispered lowly as the larger men circled around them.

"Just that I'm thinking about killing Gabriel. Know any good places to hide a body?" Castiel asked in annoyance.

"Cas-sie! Please say you have come back to return my money, eh?" The man from the front desk asked jovially.

Dean hissed from beside him, "You took his money? This guy's money!?"

Castiel shrugged his shoulders and muttered back, "Just follow my lead. He a teddy-bear. Trust me."

Castiel straightened himself to his full height and addressed the man. "Anton, I won that money fair and square. If you can't respect the rules, then you shouldn't play at all."

"Ah, but your tiny brother-he cheats!" Anton whined.

"For the last time, you can't prove cheating at Truth or Dare! And I definitely did win that contest, just like I said. Gabriel showed you the video on his phone."

The large man frowned for a second, then his grin returned. "We can play again. Now? I will win my money back."

"Not tonight, Anton. We're here to do Karaoke." Castiel stated firmly.

Anton rolled his shoulders heavily, then made a gesture with his hands for his counterparts to let them pass. "Next time, for sure, Cas-sie!" He called after Dean and Castiel as they moved hurriedly down the hallway.

They stopped just before entering their room.

"Well, that was…weird." Dean offered. He turned to grin at Castiel. "So, the weekend before last…?"

Castiel sighed and nodded, "Yes. This was one of our stops. The basement, actually. Anton is a friend of Gabriel's." Castiel explained, frowning.

"What was the contest that you won? The one Gabriel has video of on his phone?" Dean asked as Castiel began to open the door. He watched as the other man froze.

"You remember I mentioned college was a little crazy?" Dean nodded, his smile getting bigger. "I meant it."

Then Castiel went inside, leaving Dean to wonder what the hell was on that video, before following him in.

…-^o^-…

It took one hour, three rootbeer floats, and all the begging Dean could muster to get Castiel to agree to sing with him.

The other five members of their group, including Mark and Julia, shouted encouragement, having already embarrassed themselves plenty. Dean had managed to avoid singing so far, claiming that he didn't want to over-strain his vocal chords before he performed tomorrow night.

Castiel tried to hide his disappointment. But, when Dean finally offered to sing- with Cas – it was almost too good a chance to let pass.

Dean let Castiel choose the song. He watched as the man carefully scrolled through the options. Castiel finally selected one, turning to Dean with a nervous smile.

"You take the solo parts, and I'll join on the chorus, okay?" Castiel mumbled. Dean could spot how nervous Cas was, and gave him a cheerful thumbs up for encouragement.

When the song title appeared, Dean's face split into a wide grin. "Nice choice, Cas!"

Castiel tried to hide his pleasure at Dean's approval as they started the first lines together, their voice mixing nicely.

**Carry on my wayward so-o-o-n**

**They'll be peace when you are done**

**Lay your weary head to re-e-e-est**

**Don't you cry no more**

By the time they were finished, the rest of the group was applauding enthusiastically. They passed the microphones off to the next singers and relaxed back into the seats.

Dean was just beginning to feel the first hints of exhaustion slipping over him.

Castiel turned his tired gaze over to Dean, noticing his yawn. "We should probably head out soon. You have to rest before your show tomorrow."

Dean grinned over a Cas. "Mmm. Don't want this night to end yet." He said lowly so no one else could hear. The rest of the group was completely focused toward the monitor at the front of the room. Dean and Cas were at the back.

Dean watched happily as Castiel's eyes widened. He stared at Dean intently for several moments, before lifting the menu in front of him up. The large sheet blocked them from view as Castiel swooped in, giving Dean a quick, heated kiss.

He pulled away, enjoying the surprised smile on Dean's face. "Don't say such cute stuff so casually. I'll get spoiled." He grumbled.

Dean chuckled and allowed Castiel to pull him up from their seats to leave.

…-^o^-…

They arrived outside Castiel's building and sat quietly in the Impala.

Castiel turned his head tiredly to look over at Dean. "I had a wonderful night, Dean. Thank you."

Dean smiled back. "Yeah, me too. So, I'm guessing you don't want me to walk you up to your door, then, huh?"

Castiel's rumbling chuckle filled the quiet car, sending warm shivers through Dean's entire body. "I think that if you want to stick to your 'kisses only' plan, then you better not come within twenty meters of my apartment. I'm only human, you know."

Dean laughed. "Then I'll definitely see you tomorrow? No brain tanks or Russian basements or black cats going to get in the way, right?"

Castiel heard the concern that Dean was trying to hide in his words. "I'll be there, Dean." He whispered, leaning forward to meet Dean's lips.

They stayed joined for a long time, neither wanting to break apart, and both wanting to deepen the kiss.

Finally, Castiel pulled away slowly, as Dean groaned pathetically.

"See you tomorrow, Dean."

"Can't wait, Cas."

* * *

Well, if that doesn't get your naughty bits quivering, I don't know what will.

Next up: -*o*-


	21. Chapter 21-Hot Blooded

A/N: (Smiles brightly). I think you are all going to be happy with this chapter. For my part, I am shocked and appalled at our heroes' behavior.

Enjoy.

* * *

Gabriel's Thursday had been going exceptionally well.

Ruby was being particularly patient with him in an effort to make up for eating his entire stock of pineapple tarts. Which was to say, she was intentionally missing him when she threw things. She had even waived his charges of breaking and entering.

Gabriel was keeping in touch with Ash and Sam, to follow Dean's every move as they prepared for Friday night. And Charlie and Jess were keeping up with Castiel's schedule.

So far, so good. A little nudge into a kitchen pantry and Gabriel would officially be redeemed for his miscalculation of sending Dick Roman to his younger brother.

Easy.

A knock at his door as soon as he arrived back from visiting Castiel abruptly changed all that.

Ruby came in, quickly shutting the door behind herself. She looked…worried. Which made Gabriel uncomfortable. Ruby got angry. She hardly ever got 'worried'.

"Sir, I've been trying to find you. Headquarters just called. They've scheduled a mandatory emergency board meeting for tomorrow at ten o'clock."

Gabriel blinked several times, frowning. "That sounds like…bad news."

"Yes, sir. And, uh, Michael left a message for you." She held up a small piece of paper with a few scribbles on it.

"Michael? You mean Becky called and left a message from Michael, right?"

"No, sir. Michael, himself, called. He said, uh, that he needed and answer as soon as possible." She sat the note carefully on Gabriel's desk, as if it was about to explode. When she turned to look at him, he didn't like the concern in her eyes.

She looked away, before turning to walk out quickly.

Gabriel picked up the note and read warily.

**Gabriel,**

**Please try to contact your father. Let me know immediately if you reach him. Do not miss the meeting in San Diego tomorrow. Exercise extreme discretion.**

**-Michael**

Gabriel stared at the note trying to put the pieces together to better understand what was so important.

'_Try' to contact his dad? 'If' you reach him? 'Discretion'?_

_What the hell was Michael trying to say?_

Gabriel had never been especially fond of his father's protégé. Michael was almost an exact opposite to Gabriel. The man had been groomed from an early age to be the top executive at the company. He had shadowed Gabriel's father for years. He was the epitome of a solid leader, devoting his life to the company.

He annoyed the hell out of Gabriel. Plus, it had always seemed as if his father had adopted Michael as the perfect son. A more appropriate heir than himself or Castiel, both of whom had no interest in leading the company.

It wasn't jealousy, per se. Despite Gabriel's anger at the man for emotionally distancing himself after their mother's death, he knew that their father still loved them. It had taken Gabriel several years to shake off the feelings of hate and frustration he had when their father poured himself further into his job after their Mom passed. But, he had managed to get over it. His father hadn't handled it well, but, then, neither had he. Maybe their father actually did want Michael to take over the company after him. Gabriel wouldn't be heart-broken if that was the case.

But, Michael was…almost too perfect and loyal. Like a robot. He had impeccable social skills and said all the right things, but he wouldn't think twice about firing someone or instituting pay cuts if he decided those actions were in the company's best interest.

Gabriel pulled out his cell phone and hit dial for his father's personal cell.

By the fourth ring he felt a tightening in his stomach. It went to voicemail.

He tried several more numbers, the house phone, the work cell, his personal office desk number.

He finally called Naomi.

She answered almost immediately, her efficient voice ringing through the line.

Gabriel tried to sound unaffected as he asked, "Hey, Naomi! Just trying to reach Daddums. Where is he stuck at right now?"

There was silence on the other end before Naomi's hushed voice answered, "Gabriel, your father is…missing. We haven't seen him all week. I haven't heard from him." Gabriel felt suddenly lightheaded and tried to shake the feeling as Naomi continued. "That's…part of what the meeting tomorrow is about. You need to be here."

"Naomi. What are you saying? Dad can't just disappear. Check his credit card bill or cell phone GPS or something, for God's sake. He could be hurt and in a hospital."

"Michael and I have already tried all that. He…he left a note. I can't talk about it over the phone. Please come to San Diego. It's important. We think Castiel should come, too. I know he isn't a board member, but, the note…."

Gabriel tried not to release a hiss of frustration. What the hell was going on? Their father was missing? He left a note?

He thought about Castiel. If they went to San Diego for the meeting, then odds were they wouldn't be back in time for Phase Three. He weighed his options carefully.

"No. Castiel doesn't need to come with me. I'll sort this all out myself, Naomi. I'll take a company jet and be there in a few hours." He hung up his phone and sat quietly at his desk.

_Where the hell is their father?_

…-^o^-…

"Where were you last night?" Sam asked while he packed his books and papers into his messenger bag Friday morning.

Dean had been expecting the question. "I told you already, baby was acting strange so I spent some quality time with her." He spooned some cereal into his mouth as he stood by the kitchen counter.

"Yeah. You're just…unusually chipper this morning. It's kind of freaking me out a little, dude."

Dean tried to shrug and suggested, "Just pumped about tonight, I guess."

Sam looked at him carefully, before saying, "Okay. Me, too. And Castiel is going to be there again tonight, huh?"

Dean realized that Sam was trying to gauge his reaction. Damn, his brother was sharp. He kept his face blank. "Yeah. He had mentioned Tuesday that he was thinking about it. So, maybe." He took another big bite of cereal.

Sam looked at him for another few seconds before giving up. "Alright. Well, I hope he shows. I'll see you this afternoon for our rehearsal."

"Yep. Have a good one." Dean waited until the front door shut behind him before letting his face break into a wide smile.

He had been floating on cloud nine since last night. He had gone to sleep replaying the date over and over in his mind. Every single glance and smile. The way the sun had lit up Cas's face. The grace and speed as he plucked frisbees from the air with the sun setting behind him. The deep rumble of his voice as they sang their duet.

And his lips. Those incredible, soft, warm lips that had locked onto his.

Dean released a happy sigh. How could Castiel be his? How had he not been snatched up and hidden away by now?

Dean remembered Castiel's words in the kitchen Tuesday night. He had just broken up with a boyfriend. The guy had been talking shit about him.

_How fucking stupid was that guy? What could he possibly have to complain about? _

Dean smirked. _Whatever. His loss._

…-^o^-…

Castiel needed to stop smiling. ASAP.

Charlie had turned away over fifteen women just that morning. Apparently, Castiel had been greeting people left and right, sending hand waves and smiles to everyone he saw on his way in to the office. It was causing chaos.

Even Jess and Anna were becoming annoyed. Each time the elevator dinged, the three women cringed, waiting for the next wave of perfume and click of heels to step out.

Charlie had stopped being nice when they hit the double-digits.

The next woman was met with a steely glare from Charlie as she slammed her hands onto her desk and snapped, "Listen, Ramona. A 'hello' is a freaking greeting! It's not an offer to screw. Don't confuse courtesy with flirting just because your desperate and horny! Now, take your damn macarons and leave before I unsheathe my katana and go Kill Bill on your skinny ass!" Several doors opened up and down the office as workers craned their heads out watch the commotion.

The woman, Ramona, clutched her fancy box of macarons tightly, yelling back, "We shared a special moment! We talked about the weather all the way to the sixth floor. He even chuckled! Let me-"

Charlie bent down and the unmistakeable sound of sliding metal cut through the sudden silence of the ninth floor.

Ramona took the stairs.

The door to Castiel's office opened and he took a step out to look around. He was practically glowing, Charlie noted with irritation.

"You! You need to stop smiling and being nice to be people! Go back to being aloof and unsociable!" She pointed the long length of the sword in his direction angrily. Castiel's smile faltered as he glanced wide-eyed toward the other secretaries. Charlie kept shouting as the entire floor stared. "Just stay holed up in your office until the damn concert, okay? People are trying to do work around here!"

She watched as Castiel's smile returned at the mention of the concert. "Geez-Louise!" She groaned, "At least look contrite, boss!"

The elevator dinged and Charlie swung around to let loose another tirade.

Crowley stepped out and glanced around at the dozens of people frozen in place. His gaze slid over to Charlie and her upraised katana.

"Am I…interrupting something?" He asked, his tone chilly.

The sound of slamming doors and scurrying feet filled the air.

Crowley strolled over to Castiel. "A word, if you don't mind?"

Castiel nodded and they entered the office, the door clicking shut behind them.

"Oh, frack." Charlie muttered. "That looked pretty bad, huh? Am I…am I going to lose my job?" She turned her panicked eyes to Jess and Anna.

Jess answered with a small smile. "Don't worry. If Ruby hasn't been fired yet then you should be fine. Just…maybe, keep the katana at home, okay?"

Charlie looked at her sadly, "But, what'll I slice my apples with?"

…-^o^-…

Castiel tried not to shift in his seat as he waited for Crowley to speak.

If this was another Think Tank order, then Castiel was going to seriously consider refusing. It was already almost eleven o'clock. A Think Tank would take well into the evening even if they started immediately.

Nothing was going to keep him away from Dean tonight.

Crowley finally turned to him and gave him a fake smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Castiel Novak. I've been hearing nothing but good things about you lately. Your Think Tank results are getting us very positive attention." Castiel gave him a slow nod and waited. "I understand your brother is in San Diego today? Some sort of important meeting for the board. Do you happen to know what all that is about?"

Castiel frowned. So, this wasn't about a Think Tank, or even Castiel. Crowley was fishing for information. "No, sir. Gabriel sent me a text yesterday to say that he was flying to headquarters and should be back in a day or two. I don't know what the meeting is about, though."

Crowley looked at him with distrust. "So, you have no idea, then? Tell me, have you spoken with your father recently?"

Castiel became more confused by the question and a little irritated, "I don't believe it's any of your business if my father and I speak to each other. Our relationship is not work-related."

Crowley seemed put-off by the answer, and backed off a bit. "Just checking. One hears…rumors. You know how it is."

Castiel had no clue what rumors Crowley was referring to. Before he could ask, the man excused himself, leaving the office for the elevator.

After a few moments, Castiel pulled out his phone and began calling all his father's numbers.

He was trying not to let Crowley get him riled up over nothing, but his father was always reachable by at least one of his phones.

When those failed, he sent a quick text to Gabriel, hoping that whatever they were discussing at the board meeting would clear all this up.

**C: Call me once the meeting ends. I can't reach dad.**

He sat staring at his phone, thinking.

His dad was probably just stuck in the meeting with Gabe. Phones were usually not authorized in meetings for security reasons. Gabriel would get back to him with and answer soon. No need to waste time worrying about something that was already out of his hands.

Not when he could be thinking about Dean.

…-^o^-…

Tessa smiled brightly as the elderly man entered the diner. "Good morning and welcome back! Have a seat and I'll get some coffee for you."

The man sent her a warm smile as he moved to take up a seat in the corner booth.

She sat the coffee down on his table and did a quick check of the empty diner, before sitting down across from him. "I was worried that you might get sick from being in the rain yesterday. Are you feeling alright?"

The man's face crinkled into a smile behind his thick beard and his deep voice said gently, "I'm doing fine, Tessa. Thank you for your concern."

Tessa smiled back and asked, "What would like for breakfast? And, I'm serious this time-you don't need to worry about paying." She had been unhappy when the man had insisted he pay for his meal last night.

"I'm paying. Just some bacon and eggs, please." He gave her another gentle smile, and she huffed, but nodded.

Thirty minutes later, as he was finishing his food, Tessa resumed sitting across from him. She was hesitant to ask too many questions, but she was also worried about the man and his behavior. Sitting outside cemeteries wasn't healthy, and she worried that he was depressed at the loss of a loved one.

She decided to start simply. "So, I didn't get your name last night."

The man gave another small smile and answered, "I go by several, depending on the person. You can just call me Ted. My wife liked to call me that."

Tessa nodded and spoke softly, "Is your wife the person you visit at the cemetery? I don't mean to nosey, but, I, uh, noticed that you sit out there a lot."

She watched as the man nodded slowly.

"Do you have any other family? Anyone that may be worried about you? Wondering where you are?" She asked quietly.

He nodded again. "I have sons. Two of them. Well," he paused thoughtfully, "Three, actually. Two that are mine, though."

"Do you want me to call them for you? Let them know you're here and safe?" She frowned as he shook his head slowly and smiled to himself.

"I very lucky, you know. They're great boys. One of them, the youngest, is the spitting image of me. Even acts like me, sometimes. Just a great kid." Tessa smiled as his eyes brightened while he spoke, "The other one took after my wife, right down to her sense of humor. He got her looks, too." He trailed off thoughtfully, before adding with a warm grin, "Poor guy."

He saw Tessa's eyebrows shoot up, and broke into a deep chuckle.

"Aren't they going to be worried about you, sitting out here all day?" She finally asked him.

He looked away, out the window toward the cemetery, his smile fading just barely. "They'll be fine, Tessa. They're tough boys.

The ding from the bell of the diner door signaled a customer. Tessa looked at the man carefully, then nodded and left him sitting alone, staring out the window.

…-^o^-…

**Ash: Standby to initiate 'Phase Three' as soon as the concert ends.**

**Charlie: Aye aye!**

**Jess: Roger**

**Garth: Roger!**

**Sam: Ready**

**Jo: Let's do it!**

**Rufus: Got it.**

**Bobby: smoky**

**Bobby: orchid**

**Bobby: out kids**

**Ash: You need to turn auto-correct off, Bobby.**

**Bobby: Hive**

**Ellen: Bobby and I are ready.**

**Ash: Alright folks! Gabe had to fly out for work yesterday, so we're down one. Just stick to the plan.**

…-^o^-…

Castiel squeezed his way through the packed crowd.

It actually seemed like there were more people here tonight than last week. He smiled to himself. No surprise, there. Dean and his band were incredible. They deserved to be recognized.

He found Garth at a large table with Jess, Charlie, Rufus, Bobby, and Anna. They all smiled widely when Castiel appeared, planting him down in the center, facing the stage. They were closer to it this time, but with enough distance to still be comfortable.

Castiel leaned over to Anna and yelled over the noise, "You and Benny good?"

Anna smiled brightly and nodded her head. She tried to shout back, but her soft voice couldn't carry. Castiel watched her mouth the words 'thanks for you help'. Castiel nodded.

Suddenly the lights went out and silence washed over the audience as they waited in anticipation.

Castiel felt his heart begin stuttering wildly. The darkness seemed to last forever and all he could manage to think was short, demanding thoughts.

_Show me Dean._

_Dean._

_I want to see him. _

_Show him. _

_Need to see Dean._

_Want him now._

The lights flared to life. The stage illuminated and there he was.

Dean.

Castiel's mind buzzed at the sight. Dean was lit up like a beacon in the night, his smile wide, and his eyes searching. The intro started for Foreigners 'Hot Blooded'. Dean and Sam laid into their guitars as Benny led on the drums.

Castiel sat frozen as the green orbs finally locked onto his and held. There was a flash of white teeth just as Dean stepped up to the microphone stand and began.

**Well I'm hot blooded-Check it and see**

**I've got a fever of a hundred and three**

**Come on Baby-Do you do more than dance?**

Dean raised his eyebrows suggestively at Castiel, not breaking eye-contact. Castiel tried to suck in air, but could barely manage a few strained gasps. He could hear his own hot pulse thrumming in his head and feel it humming throughout his body.

**I'm hot blooded**

**I'm hot blooded**

Castiel was already rock-hard and unable to pull his wide eyes away. Every time Dean broke eye-contact to move or dance around, his eyes always fell back unerringly to Castiel's.

**You don't have to read my mind**

**To know what I have in mine**

**Oooh, honey you ought to know**

Dean winked and grinned widely at Castiel, causing the audience around them to shriek hysterically, wondering which lucky woman he was looking at. Castiel tried to swallow thickly.

**Now you move sooo fine**

**Let me lay it on the line**

Dean leaned forward, landing in a crouch and taking the microphone down with him. He looked directly at Castiel over the heads of the crowd as he belted out:

**I wanna know**

**What you're doing**

**After the show**

_You_. Castiel's numb mind supplied as a primal growl shuddered through him.

_I'm gonna do you. _

_If I can survive that long._

…-^o^-…

Dean's body was trembling before they were even half-way through the last song.

He needed it to end. He needed off the stage. He had to get to Castiel.

_Cas_.

The entire performance, as the sea of bodies in front of Dean had swayed and shook, screamed and sang along, Castiel had sat like a statue in his seat.

But his eyes. Dean hadn't been able to pull away from them.

Even though Castiel sat still and unaffected, Dean could see the truth. His blue eyes had watched hungrily, gliding down Dean's body as he danced, gliding over Dean's mouth as he sang. He knew every time he spun around to shake his ass that Cas was watching him.

All Dean could see in the entire crowd were those two orbs. The swinging strobe lights had flashed across them, at one moment lighting them up, and the next moment casting them in an eerie darkness.

Dean felt like they were alone, the rest of the crowd just static. Noise. A distraction from the private show he was giving to Cas. Just for the two of them. Every smile, wink, word, and song.

The final lines of the last song poured out of him into the cool night air and the lights cut out.

After a few second, they cut back on to the deafening applause of the audience. Women rushed the stage screaming and reaching out. Everyone was on the feet applauding. There were whistles and shouts from every direction, adding to the chaos.

And Castiel was not in his seat.

Dean, Sam and Benny stood at the edge of the stage to bow and wave. Dean's eyes snapped over the crowd, scanning desperately for Castiel. The bodies had begun moving, streaming past each other, impossible to follow.

Dean felt the air in his lungs squeezing painfully in and out. His chest was tight. His eyes darted to every flashing face.

_Where did he go?_

_Where is Cas._

Dean jumped from the stage and began wading fast through the grasping arms and hands of excited women as they pulled on him and grasped his clothes. He heard them speaking, but he didn't listen to the words. It was all unimportant. He needed to find Cas.

A suddenly strong grip on his forearm swung Dean around.

And there was Cas. Dean met his eyes and groaned with need. Castiel's eyes were wide, pupils dilated. He was flushed. His hair was a wild mess. His breathing was fast and deep.

This was the side of Cas that Dean had seen in the apartment just a few days ago. The look of barely controlled hunger and lust etched into his normally calm features.

Dean needed Castiel. Alone. Right now. His mind began to throw up images of places where they could get some privacy.

_A storage closet? No._

_The impala? No._

_Ellen's office, upstairs? No._

_There was a pretty spacious pantry in the kitchen…? Maybe? It was all the way past the thick sea of bodies. _

_So far away._

As he turned that way, his eyes caught on the stage nearby.

_Or that could work…. _

Dean grabbed Castiel's shirt, yanking hard. They weaved and dodged hurriedly through the crowd as Dean led them around to the back of the stage. He practically shoved Castiel into the narrow space leading underneath the stage structure.

The noise of the crowd was muffled immediately in the cool darkness. Narrow slats of light shone in through the thin spaces between the risers from outside. The stage was just high enough for them to stand without ducking. The lawn beneath them was covered with a thick spread of tarp.

Before Dean's eyes could even begin to adjust to the dark, he was pulled roughly against Castiel's hot body, there lips searching and finding one another's.

There were insistent pulls on Dean shirt and his belt all at once. His hands darted down, catching Castiel's, fumbling to assist him in removing the clothes. Dean suddenly felt too hot, like his body was going up in flame.

His shirt caught over his head and he threw his hands up to rip it off quickly, pulling temporarily away from their kiss. He felt Castiel's hands slide around to both sides of his hips, then yank down his pants. Dean kicked at his shoes and socks, and used his grip on Cas as he shook his pants completely off. Castiel's hands slid quickly back up to graze across bare skin. He released a deep moan of approval to discover Dean had gone commando under his jeans, taking advantage and grasping Dean's stiff cock and giving it one firm stroke. A low moan ripped from Dean's mouth and Castiel muffled it with his lips.

They both cast quicks glances towards the cracks in the risers. They could see the dwindling crowd moving further from the stage, milling toward the Road House and the exits. Only a few stragglers were taking their time, slowly walking and talking excitedly away from where the men were hidden.

A sudden shove from Cas pushed Dean into the side of the large speaker boxes. Castiel was on him immediately, pressing every inch of his body against Dean's, grinding their erections against each other's. The feel of his cock against the coarse fabric of Castiel's pants had Dean releasing a quiet, shuddering moan. Castiel chuckled breathily. Dean tugged helplessly at Castiel's pants.

Castiel grabbed at Dean's hands, pulling them away from his pants with a strength that Dean hadn't been expecting. His eyes had adjusted finally to dim lighting breaking through the cracks in the risers, and he could make out the look of pure hunger on Castiel's face.

"Oh, fuck- Cas, please-" Dean moaned hoarsely as Cas's lips left his mouth to begin traveling down his neck, licking and biting at his protruding clavicle. Lower to lick and suck at one nipple, then the other, earning mewling whines from Dean between gulps of breath.

His hot mouth sank lower, trailing his tongue down Dean's flat, firm abs. Dean's legs began to shake from anticipation as Castiel's mouth kept dropping.

Then Castiel was pulling back. Dean heard a breathy whine and realized it had come from him.

"Dean," Castiel's gravelly voice whispered through the silence, sending a quake through Dean's entire body. "Do you want me on the bottom?"

Dean's brain was not up for multi-syllable words at that moment. He just wanted Cas to go back to touching every part of him with his hands and mouth. He managed to gasp out dumbly, "Huh?"

He stared at Castiel, who was watching him closely, and saw the man suddenly let out a muffled laugh. "Never mind," he chuckled huskily, "Stupid question."

Dean tried to force his brain into understanding what Cas was saying, but it still wouldn't obey him. Having Castiel's hungry-looking eyes right in front of him while he was ass-naked didn't help anything.

He watched through his lidded eyes as Castiel began quickly pulling his own clothes off. He looked on, fascinated, as Castiel's bare skin was revealed, glowing in the thins beams of light as he moved to undress. The man's lean form bent smoothly to hurriedly discard his shoes and pants. Then, he was lunging forward to return his mouth where he had left off, sinking even lower, and dropping to his knees. He reached out grabbing Dean's hands and holding them firmly at his sides, pinned against the speakers behind him. Dean watched in wide-eyed awe as Castiel's eyes flicked up to meet his as his tongue darted out to lick across the head of Dean's swollen cock. Dean choked out a strangled groan, and Cas abruptly swallowed him. Dean felt the air leave his lungs as his head spun.

Dean fought to free his hands from Castiel's strong grip, but the man held tightly, bobbing his head up and down, taking Dean deeper each time.

Dean was losing his mind. Castiel's mouth was doing everything right. His tongue licking and twisting expertly. It was hands-down the best blow job Dean had ever gotten. Leave it to another guy to know what worked. Dean was choking on gasps, trying to control his moans to avoid being overheard and discovered.

He turned worriedly again to check through the risers. Almost everyone had left the lot. Small crowds were still gathered talking in the light of the Road house almost fifty yards away.

Cas pulled away suddenly, releasing Dean's trembling hands and darting to his pile of discarded clothes. Dean shaky legs finally began to give out and he slid down to sit heavily on the thick plastic of a tarp beneath him. He watched as Castiel darted back to him, the familiar shape of a condom package in his hand.

Castiel opened the packet and rolled the condom down Dean's shaft with precision as Dean tried to reach down and help. Then Dean felt the shift as Castiel moved to position himself over him, and Dean felt his hands squeeze hard into Castiel nervously.

Castiel's stopped, his eyes locking onto to Dean's with something that looked like fear and guilt. He slid back, away from Dean and his voice stuttered with barely checked need that drove Dean crazy.

"Dean- are…are you good? We don't have to if-"

Dean smothered his words with a deep, hungry kiss, his tongue snaking inside Castiel's hot mouth, effectively silencing him. He felt Cas position himself over the head of his and begin slowly sinking down.

Castiel's hands on Dean tightened, and he broke their kiss to let out something between a groan and a hiss.

Dean fought the urge to buck his hips up as the delicious sensation of tightness and heat slid over him. He felt Castiel trembling, and heard his gasps for breaths.

"Cas, unn, Cas are you- are you okay?" Dean worried that Cas was in pain, the tightness almost too much for him, too.

Castiel didn't answer, but he leaned his head into Dean's neck, his mass of hair tickling Dean, and his hot breath warm against his skin. Dean breathed in the familiar scent of Castiel's hair.

After the longest few second of his life, he felt Castiel bottom out finally, with Dean completely sheathed inside him. Dean's breaths were coming out more like moans, but he waited for Cas, fighting the desperate need to move and create the friction he was craving.

Cas sat fully on top of him now, legs straddled on both side. At last, Dean could feel the almost imperceptible shift as Cas's body relaxed around him. Castiel gave a few small rolls of his hips, and released a deep throated groan. His arms came up to circle around the back of Dean's neck as he whispered a husky order into Dean's ear, "Move."

Dean made a strangled noise and grasped Castiel's hips for leverage. He bucked his hips up, once, carefully, to gauge Castiel's reaction. He watched as the man sucked in a sharp gasp then released a heady moan. The beams of light lit up Castiel's face and Dean's watched in awe as his head rolled back, his mouth falling open.

That was all the encouragement Dean needed. He tightened his grip on Castiel's hips and began thrusting long, hard strokes into him. Castiel clung tightly to him, leaning his head forward, trying to plant small, fluttering kisses on Dean's mouth between his ragged gasps for breath.

As Dean's thrusts began to become faster and more desperate, his grip on Castiel's hot skin started to slip. He ran his hands across the damp muscles madly, needing something to grasp onto to deepen his thrusts..

Frustrated, and losing his control quickly, he pulled himself out, ignoring Cas's growl of disapproval, then circled the man's waist with his arms and swung him around onto his back. He pulled roughly on Cas's legs, bringing them up, then positioned himself back at his entranced and pushed in with one deep, slow push.

Castiel's hands shot up to Dean's shoulders and he raked his nails desperately across Dean's back. He threw his head back, a low, stuttering whine of pleasure. Then Dean resumed his pumping thrusts, pulling almost all the way out, before slamming hard.

Castiel was making incredible keening noises, broken by choked sobs and pleas for more. Dean felt himself losing his control, his orgasm building fast, curling heat in his stomach and spreading tingling flames throughout his body. He reached his hand between them, taking Castiel's thick shaft in his hand and pumping it in time with his thrusts. Castiel moaned pathetically, grasping Dean's short hair and pulling him in for a hard, hot kiss.

Dean felt Castiel suddenly tightening around him, his entire body clenching as he shouted, the cries muffled by Dean's mouth. Dean managed a few more sloppy thrusts before he followed, his body convulsing into shuddering waves of scalding heat as his hips bucked uncontrollably.

Dean collapsed, barely catching himself, trying not to crush Castiel beneath him, as he pulled out. They lay in a heap of sweat and cooling limbs, feeling each other's bodies shuddering with the last lingering remains of their orgasms.

The silence was filled by only their heavy breathing and low moans for several minutes. Dean's head was buzzing, his thoughts scattered. He felt Castiel's warm hand smoothing circles over his back. The chill of the night was beginning to set in, raising goosebumps on their moist skin.

"Cas?" Dean's hoarse voice spoke from the vicinity of Castiel's neck.

"Mmm?" Dean could feel the soft rumble as it came from Castiel's throat near him.

"Please come to all my concerts."

…-^o^-…

"This is ridiculous! Where the hell could they have gone!?" Sam demanded as Bobby and Jess returned from the parking lot. "So, both of their cars are still there?" She nodded apologetically, "Then where are they?!"

Benny appeared at the steps leading upstairs to the offices, shrugging his shoulders from across the distance at Sam.

Jo ran over frowning, "I asked everyone. No one has seen them."

"Cas was with us at the table one minute, then just…gone once the lights cut back on. We didn't even see him get up." Jess supplied.

"I had Dean right beside me, damn it! They've got to be together, right? He looked helplessly at the rest of the group. "And where is Ash?"

Bobby spoke up, "Checking around the lot."

…-^o^-…

Ash was circling back around the fence line of the empty lot, heading back toward the glow of the Road House when he thought he heard something.

He couldn't place where it came from or if he had just imagined it. He glanced around to the empty tables with half-filled mugs and empty bottles all over them.

He waited for several seconds, but when he didn't hear anything else, he began strolling forward again.

The distinct whisper of a muffled groan came from the direction of the stage about fifteen yards behind him.

He froze, his back straightening, and his eyebrows raising.

He didn't turn around.

Instead, he started strolling away quicker, closing the rest of the distance as he returned back to group standing in the middle of the Road House.

"Any sign of them?" Sam asked desperately while everyone else stared at him eagerly.

Ash held back his grin as lifted his hands helplessly, and shrugged, "Negative, amigos. I don't know where they could've gone. Sorry."

The group let out dejected sighs and huffs of frustration.

Jess spoke up, looking carefully, "Um, is it possible that they are already hooking up somewhere? I mean, Dean practically undressed Castiel from the stage during the entire show. We all saw it."

Sam looked around in confusion as the rest of the group smiled down at their feet nodding that they had seen the exchange, too.

Sam finally pulled out his phone. "I...I really doubt it, Jess. I mean, this is Dean we're talking about."

"That's kind of my point, Sam." She gave him a knowing smile, lifting her eyebrows pointedly.

Sam's face flushed red as the others coughed to hide their chuckles. "He, well, he- That's with women, though. I mean, he wouldn't..." Sam stuttered, turning more red. He looked at his phone deep in thought, before releasing a shaky sigh. "Alright, you know what? I don't know. I'm telling Charlie and Garth to stand down from their places in the kitchen. Sorry for the trouble, guys. We'll just figure out what the hell happened and where they went, then regroup in a few days."

Everyone nodded and began to separate, Jess walking over and wrapping her arms around Sam with a soft smile. "Don't worry, babe. We'll make sure those two hard-heads get together no matter what."

Sam returned her hug as he sent out the text to Charlie and Garth.

Bobby turned and began walking away to join Ellen at the bar. He glared suspiciously at Ash. "What the hell are you smiling about, boy?"

Ash grinned smugly as he headed for the exit. "It's nothing, Bobby. Just disregard."

* * *

Oh, Sammy. Little do you realize...

Next up: Dean makes Sam breakfast.

Dean descends into the terrifying world of Ash's sex tutelage.

Dean finds Lucifer incarcerated.


	22. Chapter 22-Gay Day

(BTW: 1) Biscuits below is referring to the breakfast kind, with gravy. Not the cookie kind, with tea.

(BTW: 2) I know Singer's Salvage and Bobby's house are actually in Sioux Falls, but just go with it for this story. They are in Lawrence now for my convenience. ;)

* * *

Sam awoke Saturday morning to the earsplitting siren of the smoke detector.

Launching into action before he was fully awake, he tossed his covers off, rolling his large body onto the floor, then frantically jumped up to throw open his bedroom door. A blast of acidic smoke hit his face. He sprinted out the door into the hazy gray, slamming into the hallway wall, taking down several family photos, and leaving a crumpled dent. He swung around the corner into the kitchen, where Dean was standing on a chair wincing as he fumbled, trying to open the smoke detector and pull out the batteries.

Sam covered his ears at the peeling and took in the charred, smoking biscuits sitting in the open oven door. Above the oven was a series of skillets and pans filled with what could dubiously be identified as breakfast foods.

"Wha-? Dean, what the hell, man!?" Sam fought the urge to cough as he gasped in the burning smoke as it was slowly dissipating out the opened windows and back door.

Dean's head snapped around, looking surprised and guilty. He quickly switched to his charming smile and answered, shouting over the alarm, "Oh, good. You're up! I, uh, made you breakfast."

Dean finally pulled the cover off the smoke detector and yanked the batteries out, with a victorious 'Aha!'

Sam waited for the ringing in his ears to die down before he addressed his brother, who was grinning cheerfully as he hopped down from the chair and practically skipped over to the stove to check the rest of the food. "Dean. Why…why are you doing this? You can't cook- at all. Are you trying to burn the house down? We don't need the insurance money that bad, dude."

He watched as Dean shrugged his shoulders, staying turned away. His voice was cheerful, but Sam recognized the note of anxiety. "Come on, Sammy. Can't I make my little brother some breakfast for a change? Just go ahead and sit down. I'm almost done."

Sam stared at his brother's back nervously. This couldn't be good. It had to have something to do with Dean's disappearance at the concert last night. With Castiel.

Sam had waited with Jess for two hours after the show, hoping Dean and Castiel would show up with some perfectly reasonable excuse. Instead, the two men had never reappeared, and a frustrated check of the parking lot showed both their cars had left sometime from when they were last checked. Sam was completely thrown for a loop. When he finally arrived back home, he discovered that Dean had already returned and had gone to bed. He was tempted to wake him and find out what had happened, but he fought it, mostly because Dean was likely to wake up swinging if he tried.

Sam slid out a kitchen chair and sat down hesitantly, watching as Dean slopped piles of runny scrambled eggs and burnt hash browns onto two plates. He paused just before turning and reached out, plucking up two of the shrunken, black biscuits, adding them onto the mountains of food.

Sam grimaced, but quickly turned his frown into a wide smile as Dean turned to him.

Dean sat the plates down, looking proud of himself, then joined Sam, pulling out a chair and sitting.

Sam tried to shuffle the concoction in front of him around busily. Dean just sat across from him, watching. The smile never even faltered, but Sam could tell that Dean was thinking hard. His brother's hands were constantly moving, tapping the table, fiddling with his fork, rubbing against his legs. Sam recognized it as one of Dean's nervous gestures. This one was a sign that his brain was working in overdrive.

Finally, Sam asked carefully, "So, uh, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Dean's face froze, his eyes darting anywhere but in Sam's direction. Apparently, Dean hadn't quite worked out what he was wanting to say.

Sam tried waiting patiently, making an attempt to look pleased with the food in front of him.

Sam had sat in that seat before. He knew the feeling.

He was rewarded when Dean finally blew out a nervous chuckle, "Hah. Well, I just, you know, wanted to have a nice, sit-down breakfast with my brother. Nothing unusual about that, right Sammy?" Sam began to answer, but Dean continued quickly, stuttering, "I mean, I feel like we're growing apart, man. Haha. People can change so quickly, you know? I mean, you hooked up with Jess, and that seems to be getting pretty serious. And, uh, Benny's got his new love interest all of a sudden. And, I-" Dean stopped, eyes searching as if stumbling over the next part. He finally poured out in a rush of words that Sam could barely follow, "I, uh, I've got someone now, too-So we all have someone special in our lives! Isn't it great? We're all just so happy, and there are rainbows and unicorns and butterflies and creepy angel kids flying around. Yep! Everything is just…great."

Sam stared at his brother, who immediately took a large, nervous bite of his food then choked and tried to cough it all back out in disgust.

"Is…is this about Castiel?" Sam hazarded.

Dean stopped mid-way through raking his fork over his tongue, trying to remove the traces of food. His wide green eyes moved up to Sam's and then quickly back down to his plate. He shrugged again before mumbling, "We may be, um…to-ge-ther?" He wouldn't look up at Sam again, but his statement came out more like a worried question than an admission.

"Okay. Well, that's great then." Dean's head shot up to look at Sam. He continued encouragingly, "Castiel is a cool guy. I was serious yesterday morning, you know. If you like him then, well, good." He could see the tension drain out of Dean's shoulders as his brother's smile returned. Geez, it was weird to watch Dean acting so nervous and shy. Sam was going to have to remember this day for future arguments. "So, you two are dating now, huh? That's good, Dean. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah. I, uh, guess we are dating." Dean was slowly beginning to open up and smile more.

Sam sat back, relaxing, and Dean finally did the same. "Alright. Well, that explains last night I guess. Everyone was pretty surprised that you both ditched. Where did you guys go?" Dean's face turned a bright shade of red as he looked back to his food and fidgeted. "Oh, come on, Dean. We just accepted that you and Castiel are dating. I think we can talk about you sneaking off for a private make-out session like adults."

Dean coughed, intentionally looking away from Sam, but he smiled proudly and mumbled, "Little bit more then a make-out session, Sammy."

Sam took in Dean's smug look and reminiscent eyes and blanked. What? WHAT? No fucking possible way! He didn't mean-

"Sex!? Holy shit-like actual 'gay' sex?! Dean, are you fucking insane?!" Sam was out of his chair pacing in a mild panic and casting incredulous stares at Dean.

Dean was taken aback, his glow-y eyed smile gone and replaced with a confused frown. "The fuck, Sammy? You said you were cool with me and Cas. Why are you flipping out?"

"I-, no- NO! I did NOT mean that you should go have SEX with a guy you barely met two weeks ago, Dean!" Sam practically shouted the words at Dean, his voice becoming shrill. "My god, dude! You can't just decide that your suddenly gay, then jump the first guy you get a boner for! This isn't like picking up chicks in a bar!"

Dean was becoming annoyed by Sam's abrupt hysterics. "Hey! Calm the fuck down, Sam! Both me and Cas are consenting adults, dammit. We can decide when and where to screw without needing you, or anyone else's fucking permission!"

Sam tried desperately to reign in his shock, "I get that-no, I totally do, Dean. But-fuck! You have only seen him a few times. And you were totally straight before he showed up. How the hell did you go from 'straight' to 'gay sex' in that amount of time? Don't you think that's taking things way too fast?!"

"As a matter of fact, I've seen Cas almost everyday this week-including for an awesome first date- that we both agreed to keep totally chaste- so get the fuck off my back and don't tell me what's too fast, Sammy!"

Sam ran his hands through his long hair in frustration and no small amount of panic. He took several deep breaths before turning back to Dean. "Okay. Okay, yeah. I'm good. Right." He sat back down, raising his hands in concession towards Dean. "I'm just…I would not have expected you to… Well, I guess I just didn't expect you to take finding out that you're gay so…well. Most people would have a rough time with it. And, I guess I figured you would be more than a little resistant to, um…well, letting a guy put his…er, put 'it' in…."

Dean had been scowling at Sam as he spoke, but as Sam finished weakly, Dean's eyes widened and he began shaking his head emphatically, "Whoa! Whoa, Sammy. No! That is not-! No fucking way did I-!" He was sputtering as if the words were almost choking him. " 'I' did the putting in, Sammy! Dude, why would you even…?!"

Sam gave him a completely unbelieving look. "You're telling me that Castiel, the super-stoic, manly business man, let you 'do' him? Dean…If you're embarrassed, just, don't be-"

"No! Dammit, Sammy! I'm not lying- geez, are you kidding me? How the hell is this hard to understand? Of course, I wasn't the…the, uh, the 'chick'!"

"Bottom, Dean. The, uh, one who…'takes' it is usually called the bottom. The one that…'gives' is called the top. Man, you need to talk to someone about all this. How can you be gay and not even know the basics?"

Dean was just staring at him angrily, but he seemed to be thinking. "Hold up. 'Bottom'? That mean's you 'take it'? Cas asked…he-" Suddenly Dean's eyes grew enormous and his face and ears turned a deep shade of red. "Oh, fuck my life! He meant-!? Why…why would he even ASK me that?!"

Sam already had a pretty good idea what Dean was referring to, but he gave it time to sink in before speaking, "So, uh… Castiel checked with you first, huh? And I'm guessing you were a clueless dumbass who had no idea what he meant? God, Dean," Sam leaned back in his chair and shook his head with a frown as he muttered, "Castiel must be a pretty understanding guy. I was wondering about that, because that dude definitely doesn't seem like he'd be the bottom…"

Dean was just gaping, still in shock. He managed a weak response, "But, I- I don't… I can't be a bot-. I can't do that, Sam! He can't honestly expect me to-. I'm a man, god dammit!"

Sam stared at Dean with a bitchface that spoke volumes. He responded, "I'm pretty sure you are BOTH men, Dean. That's the point. How can you talk like that after you just had sex with him last night? Is Castiel any less of a man just because he was on the bottom?"

Dean just stared wide-eyed, his brain seemingly broken by the sudden information. Sam watched him carefully.

"Sam…" Dean said in a horrified whisper, shaking his head slowly as he stared off into space. "I don't think I can… I can't do 'that'."

Sam let out a deep sigh, genuinely feeling bad for his stupid brother. "Dean, just…Listen, you need to discuss this with Castiel, okay man? I mean, maybe I just pegged him wrong. If he, you know, didn't mind last night, then maybe he actually prefers being the bottom. You should check before jumping to conclusions. It's not the end of the world, alright?"

Dean just nodded his head weakly, staring in shock down at his cold food.

_Wow_, Sam thought, _Dean really jumped into this without any kind of thinking involved. _

"Hey, Dean. Look, I know this is a lot to take in, uh, for both of us. Just, maybe talk to Ash? He can probably explain things better than I can." Dean was nodding his head slowly. "And, if you and Castiel want, you can come to the Light the Night picnic this evening, okay? Kind of as a couple, you know. Benny and Anna are going to be there- me and Jess, too. Just…relax a bit. Maybe you two can slow things down and spend more time, I don't know, 'talking' to each other so misunderstandings like this don't happen."

Dean fidgeted and Sam almost placed a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him in annoyance. When the hell had Dean started acting like a shy, pre-pubescent girl?

"Won't that be weird? I mean, me showing up with a guy?"

Sam looked at him like he was an idiot for several seconds before answering, "No, Dean. I doubt anyone will think it's strange. They may even, ah, already suspect that you two are a thing. Pretty much everyone at Castiel's table mentioned that you were throwing some pretty heated looks at him last night. Not exactly subtle, man."

Dean flushed for what had to be the tenth time in just the last five minutes. "Oh. Yeah. I guess…yeah. Kind of obvious, then, huh?"

"Dean, just be careful. Talk to Castiel and see where you two stand. Or ask anyone in the audience last night. They can all probably describe your love-life in detail- you practically serenaded your feelings to him the whole damn show. I knew I shouldn't have let you pick all the songs."

He tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, but it was tough.

_Because, seriously, Dean had to be the dumbest newly-gay guy in history. _

_And Castiel was probably beginning to realize that._

…-^o^-…

Dean sat in complete silence in the driver's seat of the impala. He had cut the engine in the gravel parking lot of the Singer's Salvage as soon as he had arrived almost twenty minutes earlier. His mind was in complete shut-down mode.

He replayed Sam's words in his head, trying not to cringe. _Bottom. As in, has…an object…in his…_

Yep, and that was about where his brain was flipping off at.

He understood, at some level. Hell, he had just participated in the act of…sticking…uh… He had done that to Cas just last night, almost naturally. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal at the time. Plus, Cas had clearly enjoyed it.

Dean's mind flashed through memories of Cas's lean, muscular body pressed hotly against his own while Dean thrust. Castiel had been making incredible noises that had resounded through Dean, urging him on, pushing him to the brink of his sanity.

It had all seemed…right. Nothing unusual or weird. Hell, it felt fucking outstanding.

His mind flashed back to his and Cas's embarrassed escape up and over the back fence of the lot, desperately trying to avoid drawing the attention of the cleaning crews that had appeared.

Only few sparse streetlights lit up the darkness of the lots beyond the fence. Dean had scaled the stacked equipment boxes with his usual level of not-grace, landing hard on the dirt and grass on the otherside. He had looked behind him, expecting to see Castiel making short work of the fence, his slightly lighter frame considerably more agile. Instead, Castiel was hanging back, assessing the height with a small frown. Dean had whispered through the fence jokingly, "C'mon Cas. Don't tell me that I wore you out!"

Castiel's pensive face had broken into another of his bright smiles as he scoffed at the challenge. "As if." Then he had hopped carefully up and over with just a slight grimace.

Dean moved to help break his fall on the other side, relishing in the feel of Castiel gripping him warmly again. They had stood like that, holding each other tightly, for several moments of silence filled by loud crickets all around them, before erupting into giddy chuckles that grew into full-blown laughs as they made their way back to their parked cars. Their hands had been locked together until they said their good-byes, which was punctuated by kisses and maybe some light groping.

At the time, Dean hadn't even considered that Cas would have been in any pain. He ran his hand over his face, feeling like a piece of shit.

Shouldn't he have thought of that? How could he not have checked that Cas was okay? He must have been hurting. Shit. Dean knew that Cas had been in some pain initially. He'd even had enough lingering braincells to ask about it. But, it hadn't phased him enough to slow him down or be more gentle. Nope, he had just turned up to full-throttle.

_Fuck_.

Most of the females he had bedded hadn't been in any significant discomfort after love-making. Of course, a few had, but that was under…extenuating circumstances. But, Dean had never tried to go...there. And Cas hadn't said anything.

Dean thought back to what Sam had said about Cas being on top. Dean had just…assumed that Cas would be the bottom.

After all, he was the gay one.

Dean flinched. Well, technically they both were now. And THAT was a hurdle that Dean was not willing to try and jump yet. He pushed the thought from his head, returning to the more daunting problem.

What was the big deal with…'taking' it?

Dean knew the answer. He knew Sammy knew the answer, too, but had not said it out loud for Dean's sake.

_Pride_.

Dean pitched forward in his seat, slamming his head hard against the steering wheel. A long, loud honk filled the lot, echoing around the piles of stacked cars and filling the late morning country air.

_God, I am a fucking idiot._

Dean lifted his head and took several more calming breaths. He wasn't getting anywhere sitting in his car all morning. He needed to talk to someone who could explain all the complex matters to him.

He stepped out of the impala and started heading through the lot towards the small plot of land that Ash rented from Bobby in the back field.

"What the hell are you making all that noise for, son?" Bobby's gruff voice called out.

Dean almost jumped. How long had Bobby been sitting on his porch? He looked across the large yard, over to Bobby's farm house. "Sorry bout that, Bobby. Just, uh, thinking."

"Well think quieter, idgit! What in the hell you got to think about for thirty minutes in your car on someone else's property anyway?" He huffed the question.

Dean felt his face flushing. So, Bobby had been there the entire time. _Shit._

"Just, you know, stuff. I'm here to see Ash."

"Uh huh. Well, get to it, then." Bobby waved Dean away. Dean hurried off, still feeling his face burning.

…-^o^-…

Ash's camper was parked more or less permanently behind Singer's Salvage on the edge of a flat field with several wooded areas nearby.

As Dean approached it, he was met with a strange sight.

Surrounding Ash's trailer were seven large, expensive looking tents. The kind where the people inside wanted all the luxuries of a house, but could still claim to be 'roughing it' to their friends.

Around a large fire pit, several men in nice suits were sitting on logs, chatting amicably and drinking coffee from a pot in the center. They looked completely out of place.

They looked over at Dean as he moved closer, giving him several friendly waves. Unsure what else to do, Dean waved back in confusion.

"Is, uh, is Ash in?" Dean asked the strangers.

They nodded and one answered, "Yes, sir. Mr. Lindberg should up by now."

Dean nodded, cautiously moving past the men to bang on Ash's door. After a few moments, it was pulled open to reveal Ash brushing his teeth. When he saw Dean, he held up a finger for Dean to wait, then hurried away.

He reappeared a few moments later, smiling broadly as he stepped out of the tiny camper. "Dean, my man! What is up? You're looking," he took in Dean appearance appraisingly, "Hmm. Better than I had expected."

Dean wasn't sure what to make of that. "Uh, yeah. I'm good. I just wanted to, you know, talk. About…stuff." He gave a short nod in the direction of the men around the campfire.

Ash nodded as he grinned, "Oh, yeah. Right on, man. Don't mind the guys, they're just my buddies from some companies that are interested in some of my research. They're cool. We can talk in a more private setting over here." Dean followed as Ash strolled toward a raggedy hammock strung up near a pond further across the field.

When they arrived, Ash hopped up on a flat boulder, crossing his legs and grinning widely at Dean. "So, tell me all the juicy details- spare none."

Dean frowned at him. "What? What details?" He shifted nervously where he stood as Ash chuckled.

"Aww, come on, dude. You and Castiel. Last night. Under the stage, you kinky fucker!" Ash laughed as Dean's face dropped in mortification.

"Y-you!? How the hell-?"

"Oh, I have my ways. Congrats, by the way. How do you feel? I can't imagine that was the most comfortable place to shack up with a dude for the first time. Did he even use lube? He must've, huh? You look fine."

Dean was at a loss. "What are you-? Huh?"

"Lube, amigo. Did he use anything so you wouldn't be hurting?" He watched Dean's confused stare, before continuing in a slow voice, enunciating, "Did he lube it before sticking it in, bro?"

Dean's mouth fell open for the second time that day. He sputtered, getting furious, "I, I-! No, he wasn't-! I did the damn 'sticking'! Why the hell does everyone assume I was the…the 'bottom'!?"

Ash winked at Dean and turned a smile toward the camper and the occupants around the fire. Dean followed his gaze and realized that he had the entire group's attention. Fuck. Some were holding up thumbs-up signs. One was even throwing Dean a 'rock on' gesture. Dean gave a curt smile and a wave. Weirdos.

He plopped himself down on the boulder next to Ash, and covered his face with his hands.

Ash patted him on the back, still grinning. "My bad, dude. I just figured Castiel for a top. I mean, damn, he looks like he'd be the type. With that hot, authoritative stare and those sleek, panther-like muscles. Mmm."

"Ash," Dean suddenly growled raising his head slowly from his hands and meeting the man's eyes, "Shut up. Now."

"Whoa, man. No need to get jealous. I'm happy for you. I'll totally keep my hands to myself, right? I'm just saying, I hadn't expected him to be a bottom. Especially with you."

Dean glared at him and asked incredulously, "What do you mean, 'especially with me'? You expected I was just going to…to let him…-" Dean couldn't even finish the sentence, his throat closing tightly around the words.

Ash watched him with a solemn look. "Hmm. Okay, I think I'm beginning to see a small snag here. So, you're one of those guys, huh? Can handle being gay, just as long as you can keep your manliness intact?" His voice wasn't harsh, but the words hit Dean hard, like a slap across the face.

"I don't know, man. I just, I know I can't do…that. It's nothing against Cas. It's just… I don't know, alright! I hadn't even thought about this kind of shit until Sammy brought it up this morning. I just figured it would be sort of like with chicks, just…um, a little different."

"Well, bro. I get it. Most newly gay men run into the same problem. And if Castiel was fine with it last night, then at least that means he's willing to accommodate you…for now, at least. So, I'm guessing you're at Casa de Ash to hit me up with questions? Shoot, man."

Dean flushed, looking back towards the busy campfire before asking quietly, "Does it, uh, hurt when you…take it? Cas seemed pretty uncomfortable at first."

Ash was nodding before Dean even finished. "Well, it depends mostly. Did he use any lube or stretch himself first?"

Dean's face was bright red and he jumped up from his spot on the rock. "Dude! C'mon! That's…that's way too much information." Ash shrugged and waited. Dean paced for a few seconds, trying to calm down before answering, "Uh, no. I don't think he did anything special. I mean, we used a condom. But, that was it."

Ash crossed his arms and winced sympathetically. "Well, he's probably regretting that today. You see, buddy, it's a bit different with the back door. You gotta take a few extra steps, you know, make it a little easier. He must've been pretty excited if he decided to skip on the precautions." Ash wiggled his eyebrows at Dean. "Of course, I could already assume as much by you guys' choice in venue."

"Geez, Ash. Lay off it, okay? I guess what I want to know is if there are any other ways I could fuck this up. I'm not really sure how to be, uh, you know…gay."

Ash grinned up at him. "Well, my friend. You came to the right place. Let me set you up with some 'tutorials' and a few special products. Trust me, you'll have this down in no time. Meanwhile, you and your smoking hot lover need to sort some things out. I know, I'm not usually the type to stifle the flames of new-found passion. But, you guys gotta make sure you don't go so fast you get burned. You feel me, bro?"

Dean frowned, nodding slowly as Ash hopped up and began heading to the trailer to grab the materials for Dean.

…-^o^-…

The sliding doors of the pet store opened as Dean approached, hitting him with the sudden scents of pet food and animals.

He moved in, his eyes scanning the large aisles of the store for Cas. He saw the tables for the Rescue's adoption event off to the far right and moved in that direction, his heart already racing.

He had just spent the last four hours being completely indoctrinated into the vast and confusing world of homosexuality under the tutelage of Ash. As far as Dean was concerned, this day would forever be known hereafter as 'Gay Day'. He had managed to escape finally, Ash loading him up with an enormous box filled with new lube samples, gay porn videos, books, and even a few 'items' that Dean had picked up curiously, then flung in terror across the car. Ash could probably open a store with all the unopened packages of kink he owned. He had explained off-handedly to Dean that he subscribed to several websites and online clubs that catered to his specific proclivities. Dean had gathered the items back together after his first horrifying perusal of the box, them tossed it into the trunk, praying he didn't need to have a police search done before he made it home. The last thing he wanted was for his friends at the station to find out he had gay stash.

As he moved closer to the tables, he realized that Castiel was nowhere in sight. He had spotted the man's bright yellow car outside. He frowned to himself as he took in the large group of women sitting and standing around the tables. There were nearly a dozen cages set up, most filled to the brim with excitedly hopping balls of fur. Only one cage was set apart from the rest, with a sheet draped over one side blocking the view of the other kittens.

Dean stepped closer unable to find the occupant. Suddenly a pair of bright green eyes flashed in the solid black darkness beneath the structure of a scratching post.

Dean leaned forward with a small smile and muttered, "Geez, buddy. What did you do to get put on maximum lockdown?"

Upon hearing Dean's voice, the small black body uncurled from it's hiding spot and darted forward to the front of the cage, hooking it's claw in the grating and letting out excited mews.

From in front of Dean, a loud voice barked happily, "Well, look at that! He sure seems to like you. That's really rare." Dean raised his eyes up to see several older women watching him with bright eyes. The woman who had spoken was already throwing open the cage door and reaching in for the cat. Dean watched as she man-handled Lucifer while he made a valiant attempt shred her already-scarred hand.

Next thing Dean knew, the small animal was tossed into his arms. Lucifer took a few moments to sink his claws into Dean's flesh in a panic, before gazing up at him. They stared at each other for another moment, before Dean felt Lucifer relax and begin nuzzling his shirt making loud purring noises.

The entire group of nearly a dozen women suddenly erupted into sighs and mutters. The woman who had tossed him Lucifer beamed, "Oh, yeah! You two are a match made in heaven. You know, we were worried we wouldn't find a home for that one. He's kind of a handful. His foster-dad should be around here somewhere…" She turned, looking around the area, "But, we can go ahead and start filling the paperwork out now. Let me just get a pen."

"Uh, wait! I, I'm actually not here for a cat. I just wanted to talk to-"

"Dean?"

Dean turned at the sound of Castiel's surprised voice.

The world and all its silly little problems all disappeared, just like that.

Dean grinned. "Hey, Cas."

Castiel's face broke into a warm smile. "Hello, Dean."

…-^o^-…

They stared at each other, grinning with flushed faces for several seconds.

It wasn't until Debbie suddenly cleared her throat that Castiel realized how long they had been standing there, only a few feet apart, staring at each other.

His eyes snapped over to the rest of the volunteers who were watching intently, eyes eating up the romantic tension.

Dean seemed to notice the stares, too. He shifted nervously, while Lucifer tried to roll over onto his back in Dean's arms, purring contently.

Dean looked flustered, trying to find his words. Castiel felt a warm fluttering in his chest, which he tried to force down.

Castiel turned to the expectant women behind the tables. "Ladies, this Dean. He's a friend of mine. Dean, these are the volunteers from the rescue."

Dean smiled hesitantly at the women. Castiel watched as Debbie frowned and sighed, "So, I guess he doesn't want a cat, then?" Dean shook his head slowly at her. "Whelp! Don't worry about it, Mr. Novak. I'm sure we'll find a good home for him."

She reached out to grab at Lucifer, and Castiel couldn't help but grin as Dean instinctually pulled Lucifer away from her reach. He seemed to realize what he had done, and blushed, glancing toward Castiel apologetically. He grudgingly handed the resisting kitten into Debbie's firm hands, and she tucked him back into the cage, giving him several rough strokes and ignoring the hard bites from the little animal.

"Did you want to speak to me, Dean?" Dean turned his frowning face away from Lucifer's cage. His smile returned as soon as he met Castiel's eyes.

"Um, yeah. I wanted to, uh…-" He glanced over and Castiel noticed that they still had the undivided attention of the women. "Is there somewhere we could, maybe-?"

"There's a coffee shop a few stores down." Dean beamed gratefully at Castiel.

A few minutes later, they were seated on the patio of the coffee shop, sipping on their iced drinks under the warm afternoon sun. Castiel's heart was still thumping just as hard as it had the second he had finished his order and noticed Dean standing over by Lucifer's cage.

Castiel had actually been terrified all morning, ever since he woke up and the memories of the last night bombarded him.

How was Dean handling having sex with a man? More specifically, with Castiel? Did he wake up regretting their actions? He had seemed just as eager as Castiel last night, but once the rush of excitement wore off, would he still be okay with his actions?

Castiel had waited for a call from Dean. The dreaded 'last night was a mistake' call. Castiel had been on the receiving end of more than his fair share of those in the past. It was all part of his steadfast need to resist falling for straight men. Reality always caught up to them eventually.

But, Dean hadn't called, or even texted. He had shown up in person.

And the second he had turned around and smiled warmly at Castiel, he knew that they were okay.

Better than okay. He let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Everything was fine.

Dean wasn't going to run away.

After a few minutes of silence, with Dean casting nervous smiles at him, Castiel finally asked, "Dean, was there something you wanted to talk about?"

Dean's eyes widened slightly, and he looked away quickly. He turned back slowly, glancing carefully at Castiel as he asked quietly, "I just wanted to check that you were, uh, okay. You know, after last night. Um, down there."

Castiel had to fight back the laugh that climbed up his throat at the hushed question.

Dean was worried about him. He was concerned that Castiel was in pain. It was almost too sweet.

Castiel understood that Dean didn't have a full grasp on gay sex yet. He had realized it last night, when Dean hadn't understood his question about being on bottom. The lack of knowledge had certainly not dampened his enthusiasm, though.

"I'm fine, Dean. It, uh, hurt a bit earlier, but I'm good now. I knew what I was doing. Don't worry about it, alright?"

Dean smiled, but hesitantly, and Castiel frowned.

"So, it's…not a problem? Um, you know, you being…ugh -" Dean let out a frustrated groan, dropping his red face into his arms.

Castiel laughed out loud, causing Dean's head to shoot back up. "Sorry, Dean." Castiel tried to school his features, but failed, chuckling, "It's just, I'm glad you are so… concerned about me. It's really nice. I'm not used to it." Dean blinked a few times, before breaking into an embarrassed smile. Castiel continued, "I'm okay with being on the bottom. I've had several boyfriends that weren't comfortable with me being on top. The last guy I dated was actually really strict about it. It's just one of those things that get worked out along the way. You don't need to be stressed about it." He watched as Dean relaxed, his smile finally becoming more genuine.

"Hah. Good. I was a little worried about that, honestly. You're really okay with it?"

He turned his glowing green eyes to Castiel, the bright sunlight illuminating them. His look of pure concern and hope almost caused Castiel to choke on his drink.

He fought the urge to say 'Anything. I'm fine with anything. Just dial down on the adorableness before I jump you in public.'

Out loud he answered with a tight, "Of course, Dean."

"Thanks, Cas. Um, I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go out again tonight. There's a bar-b-que and fireworks at the park every Saturday this summer. But, uh, Sam and Jess and Benny and Anna will be there. So, if you don't want to…"

Castiel thought about it carefully. He had never actually made a point of hiding his sexuality. It was just one of those things that he omitted from conversations. It helped that Dean was the one asking him. If Dean wasn't worried about possibly being recognized as a couple, then Castiel certainly didn't mind.

Being seen with his perfect new boyfriend, Dean, the super-sexy mechanic/singer, who was totally sensitive and sweet, and 'wanted' to be seen with him.

Yeah, Castiel had no problem with that.

None at all.

Castiel smiled brightly, not bothering to keep the excitement out of his voice, "I'd love to."

* * *

Next up: Another exciting date for our boys, including:

Arcades

Ferris wheels

Obscenely cute names

Our favorite Russian bar owner

Lucifer- cockblock extraordinaire

A Perfect Sunday.


	23. Chapter 23-Fireworks and Thunder

*Small part added on 30SEPT14. A Ferris Wheel scene at the request of the wonderful reader Zoetat. I hope you enjoy!*

* * *

Sam sent out the mass text message at one p.m. Saturday.

**S: D & C are official. Very official. Everyone stand down.**

On the top floor of ADA Headquarters in San Diego, Gabriel's phone made the sound of a dog squeak toy to indicate a text.

He read the text and sat the phone back down.

Then he stood and walked over to one of the large windows over-looking the city. It was a beautiful day in California.

_Was it as beautiful today in Lawrence? _

_Was Castiel spending today with Dean and all his new friends?_

Gabriel hoped so. He really hoped that Castiel was making the most of today as possible. That his little brother was fitting as much happiness as he could into his weekend.

Before it was over, and the real world caught up to him.

Gabriel stood in front of the windows for a long time, watching the bustling city sprawled out before him. Outside his office door, he could hear the hushed voices of the dozens of people gathered in the main atrium.

_Damage control. That's what their jobs were._

Michael's voice occasionally rose above the rest, quieting the other voices as they listened intently to his inputs.

Gabriel considered what he was about to do. Who he was about to hurt.

_Castiel._

_Ruby._

_Hell, the entire company._

But he had no choice. He wasn't the person that everyone needed him to be. But, maybe Castiel was.

There was really only one way to proceed.

He took a shaky breath, steeling himself.

He unlatched the window, the sudden strong rush of wind sending the paperwork on his desk flying in all directions around the office. Below him was a seventy floor drop.

He paused with a final sigh of regret for the people he was abandoning, and stepped through.

…-0_0-…

The pet store workers had spent almost an hour setting up all of Castiel's order. He tipped them well and ushered them out hastily, wanting to hurry and get showered and dressed for the evening.

His evening with Dean.

Castiel felt as if nothing could shake his good mood. Everything was perfect for once in his life.

_He had Dean. _

_He had a job that he enjoyed._

_He had great co-workers who supported him._

_And he had a new group of friends. Friends who accepted him._

It was almost as if his entire life had changed overnight. In just a few short weeks, Castiel had left his old life behind, wondering if he would ever be happy. Now he had Dean, and Dean's perfect life. It was incredible how he had never realized what he was missing. Never realized how miserable he was.

Castiel hummed as he got ready, laughing and teasing Lucifer as the black kitten hopped around Castiel's feet and scurried over the bathroom sink.

Castiel ended up being ready early- much earlier than necessary. Dean wouldn't be coming to pick him up for another forty minutes.

He checked his phone, and his smile wavered.

Neither Gabriel nor their father had answered his calls and texts from the day before. It was very unusual.

_What was happening at ADA Headquarters? Were they both too busy to respond to him? Why?_

Castiel frowned down at his phone, debating whether or not to bother Naomi or Ruby. If they were all working hard to take care of something, then he would only be an annoyance.

No, he decided. It wasn't his job to stick his nose into the upper level business. He worked on Think Tanks. He had 'wanted' to stay out of the upper level jobs. It was a choice.

His father and brother could handle those matters.

Castiel looked at the clock again. _So much time…_

He opened up his text message box and typed up a message to his friend, Balthazar.

**C: Hello B. Is everything still going good in the UK offices?**

After a few minutes he got a response.

**B: Wouldn't know- at LAX airport waiting for a domestic transfer to SD. Some kind of drama at HQ. All hands on deck kind of thing. Know anything about that?**

Castiel frowned at his phone. _They had even called Balthazar in from the London offices? What could be going on that they would need executives from out of the country to be briefed in person?_

**C: No clue. Gabriel should be there, though. Tell him to call me when you see him.**

**B: : D **

**B: You're not coming, then? Too busy having a personal holiday with you not-quite-straight mechanic?**

Castiel huffed a sigh, rolling his eyes. Of course he had mentioned Dean a few times to Balthazar. The man had been texting him almost non-stop to get the low-down on why he had suddenly ditched Dick, and how he was handling it. Balthazar had been genuinely concerned about him.

Then Castiel had met Dean. How was he expected not to mention him? It wasn't bragging. Technically.

**C: Dean and I are good. Have another date tonight. BBQ and fireworks with some friends.**

**B: How very American. You should finish the evening out by eating some apple pie – off his body.**

Castiel choked at the image. Did he have the ingredients for an apple pie in the kitchen…?

**C: Worth noting. Have a safe flight.**

Castiel noticed, with a frown, that his cell phone was dangerously close to dying. He was going to need to plug it in for a charge soon.

_Later_, he thought.

Castiel spent the rest of the time waiting for Dean mentally listing the ingredients for a pie to pick up on his next trip to the grocery store.

…-^o^-…

They arrived early to the large city park. Only a few crews had arrived and they were setting up the bar-b-cue pits and a few carnival rides. A towering Ferris Wheel was being tested in the distance, as well as a Merry-go-Round and several balloon bouncing houses for children.

After checking his phone, Dean announced that the other two couples weren't going to be arriving for another hour or so. He looked apologetically at Castiel, shrugging. "Guess we'll have to find something to do till then." He mumbled, grinning.

Castiel smiled back, "What were you thinking? There are a lot of shops around the square."

Dean gazed down the long length of the Main Street and his face brightened. He turned to Castiel and waved him to follow as he made his way excitedly down the sidewalk.

He led them to a large storefront with bright lights and loud noises. Several children and teens were weaving in between game machines. The sign above the business read 'Artie's Arcade'. Dean was already inside looking back at Castiel and motioning for him to hurry. Castiel grinned at his excitement.

It was loud inside. Castiel hadn't been inside an arcade since he was around eleven. Dean immediately pulled him over to the coin machines. Castiel was stunned as Dean pulled out two twenties and inserted both into the machine. He stuffed the handfuls of change into his tight jeans causing the pockets to bulge humorously.

He caught Castiel's smirk and grinned, "My date. I'm paying again. Deal with it."

He pulled him over to the skee ball games. Dean handed Castiel a coin, then moved to take the lane right next to him.

"You know how to play, right?" Dean asked.

Castiel nodded nervously and hit the start button.

After twenty minutes had passed, Dean had a large group of young followers cheering him on, and a massive pile of tickets extending from the machine. Castiel was taking pointers from several annoyed children that looked about seven or eight years old. They were shouting angrily at him and pulling at their hair in frustration. Dean was having difficulty maintaining his winning streak because he was laughing so hard at the look of total concentration on Castiel's face as he tried to follow the kids' instructions.

"Little bit different from ultimate frisbee, huh Cas?" Dean teased as he won yet another game.

Castiel threw him a silent, dirty look. Then, his face suddenly lit up with a bright, evil-looking smile and, to Dean's shock, the man began to lift his shirt. Dean dove over, pulling it back down, face flushed.

"Alright! Forget I mentioned it! Let's play something else, huh?" Castiel grinned broadly.

Dean handed off his tickets to the group of kids surrounding them as they walked away. "What do you like to play, Cas?"

He looked over at Castiel, who seemed to think hard. His eyes scanned the various games until they landed on the Claw Machines. He pointed to them and smiled.

Dean cocked and eye-brow.

As it turned out, claw machines were to Castiel what skee ball was to Dean. The man was a fucking genius. Nothing was buried too deep or too far out of reach.

He ended up taking requests from excited kids, many of whom had followed them over from the skee balls. Dean applauded their self-interests. These kids knew that sticking around him and Cas would land them mad pay-outs.

Dean was becoming more impressed by the second as he handed coins over. Castiel even had a strategy for moving items off the tops of others. With each win, he passed the prize off to the children gathered around him.

Dean happily passed him over twenty coins, watching in amazed awe with the rest of the kids as Castiel seemed to pick up stuffed animals from impossible positions.

After a few more minutes, Dean saw Castiel's face break into a bright victorious smile. Dean realized that he had been completely focused on the man's face instead of the game. Castiel ducked down and came pack up holding a yellow minion with one huge goggled eye. He held it up for Dean to see, beaming as he stated, "Now Lucifer has two loyal minions."

Dean couldn't pull his eyes away from Castiel's bright blue ones. God, the guy was fucking hot when he smiled like that. Dean felt a tremor of longing run through his body.

Castiel seemed to read Dean's mind. His grin faltered for a moment as he searched his eyes. Suddenly, he tugged on Dean's hand.

Dean wasn't sure where Cas was leading them, but he prayed it was somewhere private. He had to fight to keep his hands off the man as they moved through the crowds. He gripped Castiel's hand tightly, squeezing gently to convey his growing sense of urgency.

They arrived near the front of the arcade where they had entered. Off to the side, by the entrance, there was a photo booth with a thick curtain. Castiel checked inside quickly before practically shoving Dean in and following closely.

Dean grabbed his waist as soon as he entered, swooping in for a kiss, but he let out a frustrated whine as Castiel blocked it with his hand, laughing.

"Nice try, Dean, but I actually want pictures." Castiel mumbled lowly. He nodded his head down to where the money was supposed to be inserted.

Dean huffed and muttered, "Who the hell actually uses photo booths for photos? S'not natural." But he pulled out the coins and inserted then anyway. After a few seconds, the machine kicked on, and indicated the count down for the photos. Castiel could see their images on the screen in front of them.

The first picture was awkward, both men looking as if they were grimacing in pain. As the machine counted down for the next picture, Dean suddenly leaned over and grabbed Castiel's head, planting a big kiss on the side of his stubbled cheek. Castiel blushed wide-eyed and turned to stare at Dean. Another flash went off. Dean leaned in and kissed Castiel on the lips, drawing out a moan from the man. Flash. Castiel's hands shot up, cupping Dean's head and deepening the kiss. Flash. They pulled back after a few seconds, smiling at each other. Flash.

The final flash was followed by a cheerful machine voice thanking them for using the photo booth. The lights dimmed back down. They continued to stare at each other, faces only inches apart.

A girl's voice from outside said, "Oh! I want to take pictures! C'mon Molly!"

The men pulled apart quickly and ducked back out. Two tiny girls darted inside before they even made it completely out of the booth. Dean pulled out the two prints from the slot on the outside. He looked at them, smiling, and his face abruptly turned bright red. Castiel reached out, snatching the small prints from his hand. He looked at them and felt his own face turning flushing.

It was like a timeline of their kiss. Surprisingly good shots. But, it was the last one that caught Castiel's attention. They were turned away from the camera, facing each other, grinning. And the looks on their faces….

He swallowed deeply, handing one of the prints to Dean, not looking at him. He put his own print into his jean pocket. He saw Dean do the same out of the corner of his eye. Then, Dean pulled out the few remaining coins and placed them onto a nearby table. He turned and pulled at Castiel's shirt, and they exited the arcade.

"We should, uh, head over to the Bar-b-cue now. The others should be there." Dean mumbled, grinning down at the sidewalk.

"Yeah." Castiel agreed, looking anywhere but at Dean. They began walking back. Every once in a while as they walked, there hands would graze across each other's and the two men would pretend not to notice.

About half-way down Main Street a voice suddenly shouted, "Cas-sie!"

Both men turned and saw the large frame of Anton bearing down upon them, coming from his bar across the street. Dean had to fight the urge to run the opposite way. Something about a guy who could lift him from the ground one handed really worried Dean on a primal level.

Castiel seemed unaffected. "Anton, it's good to see you again. No, you can't have your money back."

Castiel turned, as if to continue walking, but Anton stopped him with a loud booming laugh. "No, no, Cas-sie. I am not here for my money. I miss you and your tiny brother. He has not called today. You will both play board games tonight? I can win my money back. I am good at Mono-poly." The eager face was almost humorous on such a huge, scary-looking man.

"Sorry, Anton, but it looks like Gabriel is stuck in California. And I, uh…" He glanced over at Dean and his face flushed. "I'm busy tonight."

Anton looked over to Dean sullenly, and for a moment Dean thought he saw a flash of…jealousy? Yikes.

The large man sighed dejectedly. "Okay, Cas-sie. Have a good night with your pretty-boyfriend." Dean and Castiel's jaws dropped simultaneously. "But, I will win my money back very soon. And you, pretty-boyfriend," he directed his sharp glare straight at Dean and the friendliness left his voice, "I will snap all of your bones and feed you to my dogs if you hurt Cas-sie. He is like angel. Too good for you."

Castiel buried his red face in his hands. Dean could only gape in horror as Anton held his eyes, threateningly. Then, abruptly, the huge man's smile returned and he waved cheerfully as he crossed the street back to his bar. "Have a good night, Cas-sie! Pretty-boy!"

Dean watched him go, then slowly turned his alarmed eyes to Castiel, whose face was still buried in his hands.

"Um…" Dean stuttered as the cold fear finally began to leave his system. He suddenly burst into horrified laughter, "…you wanna pretend that never happened?"

Through his hands came Castiel's muffled groan. "God, yes…."

…-^o^-..

Jo rushed through the gas station store aisles, hurrying to grab the items on her list. It was amazing how fast drunk people could get through ketchup. And even more amazing how her mother always failed to anticipate the quantities of ketchup needed every week.

She turned down and aisle, and waited as a woman leaned forward to pull a carton of milk from one of the refrigerators.

Jo looked up from her list at the same time that the woman turned and saw her.

"…holy shit." Jo gasped, her eyes widening in shock. "Lisa…?"

The woman tried to smile as she mumbled nervously, "Hello, Jo."

"Oh, fuck." Jo stated weakly.

…-^o^-…

"Who comes to a Bar-b-cue, and doesn't eat the Bar-b-cue?" Sam's voice asked incredulously.

Both Dean and Castiel lifted their heads from their giant burgers, and stared at him. Dean swallowed his mouthful and answered, "People with refined tastes, that's who." Castiel nodded in agreement and they both returned to devouring their food.

The group was eating their food on top of their respective cars across the park, away from the large crowds. Dean and Castiel were sitting atop the hood of the Impala. Sam and Jess were cuddled together in the bed of Sam's truck.

Then there were Benny and Anna. The rest of the group tried their best to ignore the couple wrapped tightly in each other's arms and whispering sweet nothings to each other. It was almost disgusting how in love they were. All attempts to draw the pair away from each other or into conversations was a complete waste of time. As soon a one of them answered a question the other would practically simper about how smart or funny or perfect they were. It was driving Dean crazy.

The real clincher had been when they were all picking up their food by the grills. Benny had just ordered a pulled pork sandwich and Anna had leaned forward and waved at the server, "Oh, no. He doesn't need that!" She turned to look lovingly into Benny's eyes as she patted his belly, "We're watching our cholesterol, right Snookums?"

Dean had burst into laughter and responded, "Is that so, Snookums?" To his amazement, Benny didn't even glance at him as he nodded and smiled down at Anna.

"What do you think we should get, Honey-Bunny?" Dean almost double-over laughing at the pet names.

He turned to Castiel to see what he thought. To his surprise, Castiel was staring at the couple with an intense look of concentration. Dean grinned at the way his brows furrowed and he tilted his head.

Castiel finally turned his bright blue eyes on Dean, not even a crack of a smile showing, "What do you think we should get, Snuggle-Bear?"

Dean's smile dropped fast and he glared at Castiel who was blinking at him, waiting for an answer. "I don't think so, Cas. No weird cute-sy names."

"You don't like it, Cuddle-Cake?" Dean cringed visibly and shook his head in disgust. Castiel finally began to lose his battle with a smile, his eyes lighting with humor.

"If we're doing nick-names, I'm totally getting something manly. Like 'Sex Stallion'." Dean ground out.

"Oh, dude- come on!" Sam's mortified voice groaned from behind him. Jess had her face buried in his shirt, and the way her shoulders were shaking indicated she was trying to muffle her laughter.

She raised a trembling hand up to Castiel, who high-fived it with a smirk at Dean.

After they ate, the couples split up to look around. A few stands had been set-up with various merchandise. Dean and Castiel strolled through casually, chatting quietly as they weaved around the crowd.

After a while, Dean noticed that Castiel's eyes were being repeatedly pulled away to fall on the massive Ferris Wheel structure. Dean flinched at the sight of it, intentionally pulling Castiel attention away with any distraction he could find.

Unfortunately, Castiel could only be deterred for so long.

A soft tug on Dean's shirt had him glancing back at Castiel, who was grinning and avoiding Dean's gaze. He muttered quietly, "Do you wanna...?" He nodded his head to Ferris Wheel.

Dean felt a chill sweep through him at the monstrous metal structure clawing high into the bright blue sky. He felt his throat begin squeezing shut.

"Uh. You know what? Nah. I think we're good. We're good, right?" He tried to chuckle but it came out as a ragged cough.

Castiel's face fell. "Oh, yeah. I guess that would be pretty noticeable, huh? Two guys on a Ferris Wheel. Sorry."

"What? Oh, no, Cas. That's not-! I...I'm not worried about people talking. It's just, um..." Dean could not tell Cas the real reason he was reluctant to ride it. If he admitted that he was afraid of heights, then he would get the same look that everyone always gave him at the confession. The same questions. 'What are you afraid of? It's totally safe, you know? What, you think you will fall? That practically _never_ happens!' And then the familiar mocking. Scaredy-cat, if he was lucky. Pussy, if he wasn't. Whiny little bitch, if it was Sam.

No. Cas could never know.

He smiled and shrugged. "It's just...you know, we had a lot to eat. My stomach is kind of unsettled." He patted it for emphasis, smiling weakly.

Castiel stared at him, blinking. "Your stomach hurts?"

"Um, well. Not right now, but, it might...start...?" He finished lamely cursing himself.

Castiel's eyes narrowed in suspicion, then he suddenly smiled brightly. "Okay, Dean. No problem."

Dean released a sigh.

His happiness was short-lived, however. Castiel turned away from him and called out across the crowd.

"Anton!" Castiel waved and Dean saw the large bulky frame of the Russian bar owner turn around. Castiel left Dean's side to walk over to the other man. Dean followed after him worriedly. _Oh, fuck._

"Anton, would you like to join me on the Ferris Wheel?" Castiel flashed him a beautiful smile.

Anton returned his smile with a toothy one of his own. Before he could respond, though, Dean growled lowly at him and pulled at Castiel's arm.

"Nevermind, Anton. I'll go with him." Dean glared a warning at the large man, who sighed and shrugged.

"Always I am bridesmaid, never bride." The huge man muttered sadly. Castiel patted Anton's arm warmly as the man turned and left.

Dean allowed Castiel to half drag him to bottom of the Ferris Wheel where there was no line.

The operator didn't even look twice at the two men as he moved them into their seats. Dean watched Castiel's bright eyes as the machine began to crank them up and away from the ground. Dean felt like his stomach had been left behind.

They rose higher and higher before cresting the top and swinging back down swiftly. Or at least Dean thought that was what was happening. He had his eyes closed tightly, his hands locked in a death-grip on the side rail.

After a few minutes, Castiel's voice suddenly asked from the opposite side of the cart. "Dean...? Are you alright?"

Dean made the mistake of opening his eyes to glance at Castiel and got an eyeful of tiny bodies moving far below their cart. He whimpered.

"Dean? Are you- are you afraid heights?" Castiel asked.

Dean refused to dignify him with a response. Mostly because he was afraid he might lose his food if he opened his mouth.

Suddenly the cart was rocking and Dean's eyes shot open.

He looked in terror at Castiel, who was smiling innocently.

"...Cas...?" Dean warned lowly.

Castiel blinked. "Just answer the question, Dean."

Dean scowled, drawing his lips tight and refusing to speak.

Castiel cocked his eyebrow. Suddenly he rocked back and forth, causing the cart to swing.

Dean pitched forward. "Oh-my-God! Dammit, Cas!" He leaned closely into the the side of the cart, closing his eyes tightly.

"Dean... Just admit it." Castiel sang sweetly, rocking the cart with each word.

Dean groaned and finally caved. "Alright. I'm afraid of heights! Are you happy!?"

Suddenly, the rocking stopped and Dean felt Castiel slide closely next to him. A hand covered his as it was clutching the metal railing.

Dean relaxed, opening his eyes slowly to look at Castiel's smiling face.

"You're a jerk, Cas."

Castiel chuckled, and grazed Dean's cheek with his mouth, planting a gentle kiss on it.

The Ferris Wheel shifted back into motion, causing Dean to stiffen again. Castiel squeezed Dean's arm for comfort, signaling down for the operator to let them off. As they began to move toward the bottom, Castiel whispered into Dean's ear. "You don't have to act brave to impress me, Dean. I'm already hooked."

Dean's face flushed warmly.

...-^o^-...

The group waited and chatted for the next hour until the sun slowly began to set. Large swarms of children were racing up and down the fields, waving sparklers and playing with soccer balls.

One of the balls got kicked their way and Dean hopped up to send it back. Shortly thereafter, he was drafted by the group, their small bodies hopping and dodging all around him as Castiel watched.

The kids were tough, talking mad trash to Dean and calling him old man, but it was obvious that they liked him.

Castiel couldn't help but imagine Dean as a father. He was a natural at it. Kids adored him, and he seemed to have no trouble handling them firmly but with a friendly smile. He was even good with Lucifer, and that was saying something.

He heard the familiar tone of his cell phone powering down in his pocket. He pulled it out and frowned. Should've charged it, at least a little bit when he had the chance earlier. Too late now. He put the phone back in his pocket and returned to more important matters. Like watching Dean get shown up by ten year olds.

Soon after, Sam jumped up from his spot in the truck bed, vowing to even the score a bit against Dean's team. The dozen or so kids plus the large audience of children that had formed, watched in awe as Sam's giant form ran over and tripped Dean up to steal the ball.

Soon Dean's team was beginning to lose.

Dean glanced over to Castiel, watching from the hood of the impala. "Hey!" he called his team over. "What do you say we have my friend, Cas join us, huh?" He pointed at the man.

One of the younger girls frowned and spoke, "I don't know. Is he nice? He isn't as smiley as you."

Dean collapsed into laughter and answered, "Don't worry. Cas is super-nice. He just seems kind of intimidating at first. Give him a chance. I bet you will all like him."

They nodded reluctantly, gazing nervously as Dean ran over to pull Castiel in to the game. He hesitated at first, seeing the looks the kids were giving him. But, Dean insisted.

Sam threw a fit, and pulled Jess onto his team.

They spent the next thirty minutes playing soccer with the children. Sure enough, Dean noticed, the children fell in love with Castiel. He was quick to tell them each when they made a good play, and offered encouragement when they messed up. He even made an effort to learn their names. It wasn't long before a horde of tiny little girls was following Cas around the field during the game and tugging on his hands to get his attention before running away squealing and blushing. And Dean didn't miss the approving stares from many of the mothers who were suddenly appearing on the sidelines to watch.

Thankfully, the game ended soon after, as the sky darkened.

Dean had been dangerously close to stripping off his shirt again just get Cas's attention back. No shame.

Now as they sat in the cool darkness, waiting for the fire works, Dean pulled Cas in a little closer. There was the light sound of music playing from the Impala's radio. Both Dean and Cas were leaning against the windshield, sipping on bottles of soda. The groups of children were running wild in the distance in eager anticipation of the fireworks.

Dean felt the warmth of Castiel's hand suddenly fitting into his own and squeezing warmly. At that exact moment, the loud whine of the first firework being launched cut through the air. The sudden burst of red light lit the darkness and illuminated Castiel's face. Their eyes met as more lights exploded, echoing in the distance, mingled with happy yells and shrieks from the kids.

Dean leaned over, just as Castiel did the same, there mouths meeting in the glow of colors. On the radio the hum of Bob Dylan's 'Knockin on Heaven's Door filled the silence between the bursts.

**Ooh-ooh-oh-oohh**

**Momma take this badge off of me**

**I can't use it any more**

**It's getting dark**

**Too dark to see**

**I feel I'm knockin' on Heaven's Door**

They pulled their lips apart silently and leaned into one another, hand still gripped tightly between them as the music continued the slow, haunting notes and the sound of laughter and crackling fire works filled the night air.

…-^o^-…

"This is ridiculous, Gabriel. Open the door." Michael demanded as he banged on the office door.

The elevator down the hall dinged, and everyone turned to see the security team approaching.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?" The head of security, Uriel, asked quietly. His soft tone was misleading. The man was massive, and had no qualms with strong-arming people. He had certainly earned his job over the years.

"It appears Mr. Gabriel Novak has locked himself in the office and will not answer us. He hasn't been out all evening." Naomi answered smoothly, her professional tone calm.

Uriel nodded in understanding, then stepped forward. With a solid kick that had everyone jumping in shock, the door to the office swung heavily from it's metal frame hanging barely off the now bent hinges.

Uriel stepped to the side, adjusting his blazer casually.

Michael walked inside, followed closely by Naomi, Ruby and several others.

The office was empty and a mess. Paper flew through the air as the wind whipped in through the open window.

The group stared.

Michael approached the window slowly and leaned out.

When he turned around, he addressed Naomi with a deathly silent voice that none-the-less echoed through the room.

"Naomi, could you please find out how Gabriel came into possession of several large sheets."

Naomi blinked several times, before nodding. The rest of the group just stared.

A voice from the back called out helpfully. "Oh, that was me sir!" The group parted and all eyes fell on Alfie, the long-term intern. "I even knotted them together for him, just like he asked!" He smiled brightly.

Michael stared for a moment before asking, "And, did you also happen to open the windows on the floor directly below his office, as well, Alfie?"

"Yes, sir!" Alfie nodded. He was suddenly standing very alone, the rest of the large group having cleared to a safe distance away from the young man. He didn't seem to notice. Or at least, care.

"...And why would you do that, Alfie?" Michael asked dangerously.

Alfie paused at the question, frowning slightly. The his smile returned, wider than ever. "Because he's the boss, and he asked me to, sir!"

Michael actually seemed thrown off by the answer. He gave the intern one final, calculating look before walking over to the large, oak desk. He paused, looking down at something, then reached out and pulled off a taped piece of paper sticking to the surface.

He read it slowly, as everyone waited.

Then his eyes glanced over at Ruby briefly, before falling onto Naomi.

"Prepare a jet to take yourself, Ruby and a small team to Lawrence, Kansas." He walked toward the door, handing the note to Naomi, and left the office. Everyone's eyes followed him until he was out of sight.

Naomi read the slip of paper and frowned, before handing it to Ruby.

Ruby had a sick feeling in her stomach as she took the paper:

**Michael-I'm going to pass on the job offer. **

** Naomi-Please transfer Ruby's secretarial duties over to Castiel immediately.**

** Ruby-I need you stick close to Cassie. He's going to need all the help he can get. I'm sorry.**

Ruby read and re-read the short note. After several minutes, Naomi's voice cut through her thoughts.

"We'll make preparations to leave for Lawrence first thing in the morning. Be packed and ready to go by eight o'clock." She turned and addressed the awed group standiing around the office and in the outer atrium. "Everyone else, please get back to your duties. We have a lot of work to do and we can't afford to slack now."

"I would like to come with you, as well, Naomi." A confident voice stated from just outside the office door.

Naomi looked up and nodded slowly, "I understand, Mr. Roman. I'll make the necessary arrangements."

She followed the rest of the group out, leaving only Ruby standing alone in the empty office. Naomi shut the door with a loud click.

After a few moments, a sudden violent crash shook the doors and desks of the entire floor.

"Uriel," Naomi spoke without looking up, as the Security manager and the rest of the workers stared in alarm at the office door. "Once Ruby has calmed down, please send some men into the office to turn the desk back upright."

…-^o^-…

They fell over twice in a tangle of groping limbs, mouths locked together, before they made it to Castiel's door later that night.

After collapsing ungracefully on the hard wood floor inside the apartment, Castiel kicked the door shut with his foot while Dean lavished kisses up and down his neck.

Castiel ripped desperately at Dean's shirt, yanking it over his head. Dean tried to do the same, but Castiel had reached both of his hands down into Dean's pants, squeezing his ass hard. Dean growled in frustration, reaching back to pull at Castiel's arms so he could remove the man's shirt..

Castiel laughed, wiggling quickly out from underneath Dean. Dean lunged and tried to capture Castiel before he could hop up, but only managed to grab the cloth of his pants. Dean reached his other hand over and gripped more of the fabric. But, suddenly the man's pants and boxers were falling to the floor as Castiel chuckled deeply and slipped out of them with ease.

Dean watched stunned from where he lay on his stomach on the dark floor, as Castiel stood, pulling his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. The faint lights shining through the large living room windows lit up his smooth skin and toned muscles as he grinned at Dean and turned to walk towards his room. Dean lay frozen, his eyes watching the subtle sway of Cas's ass disappear down the hallway.

"Son of a bitch." Dean murmured, before scurrying up and tripping over himself to pull off the rest of his clothes. He thudded hard into the wall, and knocked everything off the small table by the door. The sound of sharp thuds and clangs echoed loudly in the vast silence of the living room.

He practically ran to the bedroom, sliding almost a foot as he caught the frame of the bedroom door to stop himself. In the dim light of the room, he could see the pale flash of Castiel's skin sitting atop the dark ocean of sheets and pillows. Dean dove for him.

Castiel laughed, wrapping his legs around Dean's waist as he pulled them into the center of the huge bed. Dean's laid kisses across Castiel's face until he finally found the man's lips. Castiel bucked his hips up, grinding against Dean's erection. Dean broke the kiss to gasp in a groan, before returning his lips to Castiel's and deepening the kiss.

Castiel's hot hands slid across Dean's back, down to grasp his ass cheeks again, kneading them hard and enjoying the feel of the firm muscles. Dean hummed into his mouth, and thrust his hips down against Cas again, the friction of their hard cocks rubbing against the tight space between their stomachs causing them both to pull away and gasp for air.

Castiel released Dean's tight ass to reach between them, running his hand firmly up and down Dean's shaft.

Suddenly, Dean's body shot straight up, pulling out of Castiel's grasp with a high pitched shriek.

"WHAT THE-? AHH!" Dean yelled again, hopping off Castiel completely and spinning around and wide-eyed, his eyes searching the sheets as he gasped for breath.

"Dean? What's wro- WHOA! Shit-!" Castiel cursed, as claws and warm fur darted heavily across his chest. "Fuck-! Lucifer!"

The darkness made it almost impossible to see the animal as it made another pass around the bed, bouncing over Castiel in a flash and hopping up quickly to Dean's shoulder as he tried to catch hold of the cat.

"Fuck! He's too fast! Where'd he go?!" Dean's breathless voice asked hurriedly in the silence. Castiel felt the bed shifting as Dean threw himself forward, arms wide and ready to grip the small animal.

Castiel rolled fast to the edge of the bed, his hand slamming painfully into the hard surface of the nightstand. "Ow! Hold on, Dean. Wait!" He fumbled for several seconds until the light of the bedside lamp clicked on. He winced at the sudden brightness, turning to see Dean's naked body poised at the end of the bed, sitting up on his knees blinking painfully.

"Dean! Beside y-!" Too late, Lucifer shot from the dark folds of the sheets, digging into Dean's chest and shoulders with his claws as Dean's hand shot up to catch the animal.

They both suddenly disappeared, falling over the side of the bed, a loud thump shaking the room.

"Oh, fuck-! Dean!? Are you okay!?" Castiel shot off the side of the bed and stumbled around to the end. Dean was lying on his side, holding onto Lucifer's struggling little body tightly.

"Dean? Are you hurt?" Castiel knelt beside him, running his hands hurriedly over his body.

"Ugh…ow…." Dean managed, slowly rolling into sitting position.

Castiel gripped Lucifer tightly, pulling him from Dean's hands. "Dammit. I'm so sorry, Dean. I completely forgot about him." He stood and darted to the entrance of the bedroom, crouching down and tossing Lucifer gently as far as he could down the dark hallway. Then he slammed to door quickly.

There was a few moments of silence before the sound of scratching and loud mewling came from the other side.

Castiel huffed a sigh, letting his forehead thump against the door for a moment while he caught his breath and groaned. "Dean. I am so, so sorry." He turned back to face the bed and saw Dean hunched over, shaking with laughter. "Dean…? You CANNOT think that was funny. Dean?" Castiel growled lowly, "Stop laughing- that was embarrassing! Dean-! I said knock it off!" Castiel had reached the bed, growing more frustrated by the second. Dean was practically crying from laughter, his deep, gasping laughs filling the bedroom. Castiel grabbed one of his many pillows, and without thinking slammed it hard against Dean's huddled form on the floor.

Dean flinched and grabbed at the pillow, still laughing uncontrollably. "Haha! That was the most, haha, most amazing cock-block I've ever seen!" Castiel finally gave up on the pillow and tackled Dean instead, pushing him backwards onto the bed. He covered Dean's mouth with hard, angry kisses. Dean's laughter faltered as he tried to catch Castiel's frowning mouth.

Castiel couldn't keep his straight face, and he suddenly began chuckling, too. For the next several minutes, both men lay at the end of the bed, bodies holding onto each other and shaking as they laughed.

When they were able to breath again, Dean scooted himself backwards on the bed, back to the center, Castiel following hungrily, refusing to break their kiss. Once they were back to head of the bed, Castiel reluctanlty pulled away, stretching himself over to the edge to switch the light back off.

Dean grabbed his arm pulling him back and muttering, "Leave it on-don't want anymore surprises." He grinned up at Castiel, then made an obvious sweep down and back up Castiel's body with heated eyes before adding with a wink, "And I like the view."

Castiel buried his face in Dean's neck, chuckling as he planted breathy kisses all over. Dean rested on his back stroking Castiel's hips and moaning as Castiel ran his warm hands across his broad shoulders and down to his abs. Castiel shifted his kisses, trailing them lower, down Dean's chest. Then lower still...

Dean's breath quickened as he watched Castiel's lips trail down to plant kisses along the length of his throbbing cock.

Feeling it was one thing, but seeing it was…something else. Castiel's hair was shooting up at every angle possible. His lips were swollen from kisses, and his cheeks flushed from lust and laughter. His strong hands were kneading gentle circles along Dean's thighs.

Castiel's blue eyes glanced up, locking onto Dean's, and he smirked. Before he could lean forward to take Dean into his mouth, he found himself being pulled up by a sharp tug at his hair.

Dean reached out for his arm, pulling him further up and rolling him onto his back.

"Dean…!" Castiel started in frustration, but then he stared up at Dean's face and shuddered. Dean looked like he was about to snap, his breath coming out in short, shaky breaths as he dipped down for sharp bites and soothing kisses all over Castiel's body.

"Dean…now…!" Dean's hips ground once, then twice against Castiel's, causing him to moan needfully, and press up for more contact.

"Cas…" Dean's voice begged from where he was leaning in, lavishing kisses and licks over his nipples. "Cas, I need…Fuck, I want you so bad-" His hips bucked against Castiel's again.

Castiel hissed in pleasure, tugging sharply on Dean's short hair. He somehow forced the words out, "Then do it, for God's sake!"

Dean stopped nibbling on his collarbone and lifted his head up, annoying Castiel even further.. His deep voice was choked and desperate, "I…you need lube… Where...?"

Castiel made a weak keening sound, then moved so fast that Dean was stunned. He rolled over and fumbled with the drawer of the nightstand, pulling out a small bottle and squeezing it quickly onto his hand. He returned hurriedly to Dean, grasping his hard shaft and smoothing the lube over it quickly, drawing a short moan from him.

Castiel's hand with the lube on it disappeared behind him as he leaned warmly on his knees up against Dean for support.

Dean's lust-hazed mind realized that Cas was stretching himself and he felt a wave of annoyance. He'd had to listen to Ash lecture this part in detail for nearly thirty minutes today, and he wanted an opportunity to try out his newfound knowledge. He grabbed at Castiel's hand, interrupting the wonderful little moaning noises he was making. Pushing him onto his back, Dean spread Cas's long legs legs wider for better access.

He met Castiel's eyes as the man stared up at him, and was amazed by the amount of hunger he saw there. "Dean...Hurry. Up." Castiel ground out, writhing beneath him.

"Impatient." Dean chuckled, planting a kiss on Castiel's mouth and rubbing his hand over his own slick dick with a groan, then bringing his hand up to Castiel's entrance.

He ran his finger carefully over the already slick bud, drawing a short gasp from Cas, then slowly pushed in. Castiel moaned huskily beneath him and clenched up, before relaxing. Dean moved his finger in and out just a few more times, before carefully adding a second digit. Castiel reached out, nails digging into Dean's shoulder as he gave him a pleading look.

Dean pushed his fingers in more slowly, scissoring them carefully, and taking his sweet time to ensure Cas would be fine.

Suddenly, Castiel pulled Dean's head up to meet his eyes, staring intently into them. His voice was raspy and held the very real promise of a threat. "Dean. If you don't fuck me right now, I'm going to handle it myself without you."

Dean huffed a light laugh at Castiel's desperate words. He nodded and shifted Castiel's legs up to his shoulders, Cas eagerly moving with him. He positioned himself at his entrance and pushed as carefully as he could manage, relishing as the heat swept slowly over him.

His efforts were completely wasted however, when Castiel wrapped his legs tighter and bucked, taking Dean almost all the way in, with a small, muffled shout of pain that extended into a low growl of pleasure.

"Fuck-!" Dean couldn't handle it anymore. He began thrusting hard, pressing himself deeper and deeper into Castiel's heat. He could feel Castiel clenching around him as he moaned and gasped with each thrust.

The sounds of their bodies smacking together mingled with their moans and hoarse shouts.

Castiel's hands tugged harder at Dean's hair, his hips beginning to buck erratically. Dean was also losing his control fast, Castiel's cries getting louder and louder near his ear.

He felt the moment Castiel came, his nails digging into Dean's scalp. The sharp pain mixed with the tightening around his cock sending him over the edge almost at the same time.

His body clenched tightly as he came inside Cas. He collapsed heavily on top of Castiel's shuddering body, pulling out weakly.

"Fuck...fuck…fuck…That was…fuck…" Dean tried to gasp out words while his body hummed.

Castiel's body shook with weak laughter beneath him. "Ditto…"

Dean felt Castiel's arms wrap around him, warming his chilled body. Their breathing settled after a few minutes. Dean was almost asleep when he felt Castiel begin to shift from underneath him gently. Dean tightened his grip and groaned irritably.

Castiel chuckled. "Just stay here. I'm going to clean up. Be right back." He kissed the top of Dean's head as he scooted away. Dean groaned again as his body heat was gone.

Dean felt the bed shift as Castiel stood.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump. Dean's head shot up, eyes blurry and he rolled himself weakly to the edge of the bed and looked down. Castiel was struggling back to his feet, face bright red as he pointedly did NOT look over at Dean.

Dean was wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

"Shut up..." Castiel mumbled, embarrassed, as he wobbled to the door on shaky legs.

…-^o^-…

A crack of thunder woke Dean Sunday morning.

It was dark, and he was nestled very tightly in the heat of Castiel's arms. The other man was practically attached to Dean- arms and legs wrapped around him, pulling Dean impossibly close to his heated body. Dean tried to go back to sleep, wiggling himself even closer into the warmth pressing against his back as he leaned his head into the crook of Castiel's arm.

Several loud, pathetic meows came muffled through the bedroom door, pulling Dean back from his dreams.

Lucifer had made another attempt to join them in the bedroom last night, when Castiel had gone to the restroom. Castiel had still been upset with him for the interruption earlier and had placed him back outside the room, before turning off the light and joining Dean in the bed.

Another loud boom of thunder caused more desperate meows, and Dean could hear the sound of desperate scratching at the bedroom door.

Apparently Lucifer wasn't a fan of storms.

Dean began to blink himself awake, trying to keep from waking Castiel behind him.

...Behind him?

Dean's eyes shot open and he turned his head, lifting it slightly.

No fucking way. I'M the little spoon? What the-?

Dean took in their positions. How the hell did that even happen? They had definitely gone to sleep facing each other.

Dean frowned as a flash of lightning lit the room followed several seconds later by yet another blast of thunder echoing through the room.

It wasn't…uncomfortable, Dean noted. In fact, he kind of…liked it.

More meowing reminded Dean that Lucifer was upset. Dean very carefully tried to twist and writhe his body carefully away from Castiel's. The guy had a death grip on him.

With much difficulty, Dean managed to free himself, stuffing several pillows into his place, and watching with amusement as Castiel pulled them closer to himself, burrowing.

Fuck, he looked hot like that. The sheets were pooled low across his hips, exposing his pale chest. His hair was a mess and his face was relaxed as he dreamed. Dean stared at the scene for several moments. Finally, he made a decision.

He walked to the door, opening it slowly and making a quick grab as Lucifer darted inside. He hugged the kitten close, patting him soothingly as he found his pants by the door. Reaching inside, he pulled out his cell phone and turned to return to the bedroom.

His eyes caught on a massive structure sitting by the living room wall. It was a huge cat clubhouse, or something. It had everything-hammocks, holes, toys dangling from it. A glance at the wall showed new shelves leading all the way up to the alcove Lucifer had previously gotten stuck in.

Dean stared, grinning for several moments. God, Cas was adorable.

He returned quietly to the room. Holding the purring cat in one hand, and his cell phone in the other, he managed to snap a good picture of Castiel asleep.

He smiled widely as he viewed the photo.

Yeah. That's gonna be handy the next time Cas gets stuck in one of his Brain Tanks. More lightening flashed.

Feeling proud of himself, Dean stepped back out of the bedroom and shut the door. Sitting Lucifer down, he walked over to his clothes again and slid on his boxer briefs carefully over his already half-hard cock..

He made his way to the bathroom, and discovered that the light wasn't working.

Shit. Power outage, he thought.

As he finished his business and stepped back out to the hall, Lucifer weaved in between his feet. Dean reached down to pick him up, walking over to the large windows and staring out. The weather was bad. Deep, black clouds were rolling quickly through the sky.

Dean frowned. Tornado weather.

As if to support his theory, thunder shook the the windows.

He picked up his phone, checking the time. Eight Twenty-seven a.m.

He called Sammy.

'_Dean? What's up?' Sam's tired voice answered._

"Just checking on you. Weather looks bad."

'_Yeah. They were calling for severe thunderstorms all day. Power's out pretty much everywhere. Possibility of tornado watches, maybe even some warnings across the state. Are you, uh, at Castiel's place?'_

"Yeah. Fourth floor. Lots of windows. Probably seemed like a good idea to a guy from California." Dean said with a chuckle.

'_You gonna camp out there? You can bring him here to the house. I've got Jess here, too. Just in case it takes a turn for the worse.'_

"I wouldn't want to risk it," Dean answered. "Might run into more trouble driving in this weather. We'll camp out for now and check what the weather updates are. Stay safe, Sammy."

'_Yeah, you guys, too."_

Dean hung up with a sigh, and proceeded to check the weather alerts on his phone. No tornado watches out yet. Lucifer stuck a paw out to bat at the bright screen on the phone. Dean cuddled him closer, staring out at the messy weather.

…-^o^-…

Castiel awoke to the sound of an earthquake shaking him in the bed.

He bolted up in alarm, preparing to dive for cover.

It took several moments for his head to clear enough to realize that he wasn't in California. The shuddering was not an earthquake, but thunder. And Dean was not where he was supposed to be-namely cuddled in Castiel's arms.

He rose from the bed, noting that the door to the bedroom was open. He padded out quietly and stepped into the living room.

Dean was standing by the window, his back facing Castiel. He was wearing a pair of black, extremely short boxer briefs and nothing else. Castiel let his eyes roam hungrily up the man's toned legs to his perfect, tight ass. Above that, his torso widened into smooth, broad shoulders. Castiel let his eyes drift back down to the perfect dimples of his lower back. They looked like they need to be licked…

"See something you like?" Dean's quiet voice asked across the room. His head turned to show his smirking face. Lucifer's head lifted up over Dean's shoulder to stare at Castiel.

Two sets of green eyes locked on to his. Castiel felt a small shudder pass through him. He thought again, how natural Dean would seem as a father. He held the small cat close, patting it's back gently. Castiel felt his stomach clench.

"Why aren't you naked and in my bed, Dean?" Castiel asked lowly.

Dean's smile widened, "My bad. Didn't realize old guys recovered so quickly."

Castiel smirked at the jab. "I'd be happy to correct that misunderstanding."

…-^o^-…

The rest of the Sunday was spent with Dean discovering exactly how in shape Castiel actually was. During their brief interims between sex, they cuddled on the sofa and watched the storm passing.

They had no idea about the storm that was approaching.

* * *

Prepare yourselves for the next chapter. Shit's gonna hit the fan in a big way. It's time for the real drama to start...

Next up: The implosion begins.

Where are Daddy and Bubba Novak?

Dick.

A yellow bouquet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On a separate note, I feel bad about not posting as frequently as I used to (sorry). So, thought I would suggest two of my favorite Cas/Dean stories for you to check out while you wait. I love them SO MUCH. I bet you will, too! Just don't try to hold me to these authors' standards- I'm only a mere mortal.

Hot Water-by Chiyume

Freefall-by Lastknownwriter


	24. Chapter 24-When Ex's Converge

I've been telling you to get ready for the drama. (Drum roll)

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel hobbled into work Monday morning.

His entire body was pleasantly sore- a result of spending an entire day making love with an extremely enthusiastic mechanic. No complaints there.

He was even running late this morning, thanks to said mechanic.

So, technically Castiel had been the one who woke Dean up via blow job.

But, Dean had been the one who had taken it further, returning the favor.

Castiel was still amazed. Dean's learning curve was almost terrifying. Only a few weeks ago, the man hadn't even considered having sex with a man. But by late last night, Castiel was having trouble keeping up- and he had YEARS of experience.

It wasn't hard to understand how Dean had been so popular with the women. He was incredible in bed. Insatiable. A little rough…

Castiel tried to walk normally as he entered the ADA building, smiling to himself in the elevator. Lawrence needed to have more severe storms, his opinion. Being trapped in an apartment with Dean for an entire Sunday was his new favorite past-time.

The elevator finally dinged, opening up on the ninth floor. Castiel stepped out, lost in thoughts about sexy mechanics and apple pies.

He looked up. A crowd was gathered around Charlie's desk.

All eyes turned to stare at him.

_Oh, shit._

…-^o^-…

Tyler had never been happier than in the last few weeks.

BigGerson's restaurant had gone to incredible lengths to welcome then back frequently. The staff knew him and his mother by name and always made a point of greeting them cheerfully.

It was such a dramatic change from the years they had spent in the solitude of their home, afraid of hateful whispers and frowns.

Now even other regular customers were coming over to say hello to them. It was like a family had formed in the small-town restaurant.

Tyler's mother grinned happily as an elderly couple chatted with her and spoke merrily to Tyler. The Perigo's were particularly nice to Tyler, revealing soon after meeting, that they had a grand-daughter with autism. They spent several minutes discussing the best school programs available and summer sports leagues for special children.

As they spoke, Tyler's mother noticed a new face sitting off by himself. He was a short man, with brownish-blond hair, sipping slowly on a soda as he stared down at what looked like a photo in his hands. A massive slice of 'Super-Fudge-Choco-Sludge Mud Cake' was half-eaten in front of him. As she watched, he kept his sad eyes on the photo while bringing another massive bite to his mouth.

There was nothing strange about him, aside from the near-deadly dose of sugary confections he was half-heartedly eating . But he seemed sad. Maybe…burdened was the better word. A familiar feeling, the women noted, glancing back to her now-grinning son.

She waved over the young waitress.

"Excuse me, Wendy. Has that man received his bill yet?"

"No, ma'am." The waitress answered, casting a quick glance at the solitary figure.

"I'd like to go ahead and pay for his meal, please." She stated with a small smile. The waitress smiled back, nodding knowingly.

Sometimes the littlest gestures could make the biggest impact on people.

…-^o^-…

Castiel sat heavily down on his desk chair as Naomi shut his office door. It was just the two of them in the office.

He placed the bright yellow bouquet of flowers gently on his desk, staring at them in a state of shock.

"Naomi…" He began.

"Please wait, sir." She answered quickly, before moving to the corner of his office, pulling a chair with her. She stood on top of it and reached up to the small camera positioned there, yanking it from its cord.

The small cameras could be found everywhere in all the ADA offices. Most employees never gave them a second thought. Castiel was surprised that Naomi took his down. He was even more surprised when she approached his desk, lifting his large phone and opening it. She pulled out a small device and promptly crushed it.

Castiel sat in shock, watching. What the hell…? Was that a…bug? His phone was tapped?

She finally sat the phone back down and moved to stand in front of his desk. "I apologize, sir. I'm afraid…precautions must be taken." She paused, looking down at the floor, before continuing quietly, "We tried to call you yesterday, sir. Several times."

Castiel stared at her, then remembered his phone was still dead. He had forgotten to charge it once the power had been restored sometime during the night. He had been distracted…by Dean.

"Naomi, what…" His mind was searching for where to even begin. His eyes landed on the bright flowers. Castiel had barely had time to recover from his shock at seeing so many people watching him, when the flowers had been handed to him.

By none other than Dick Roman.

"Why is Dick here?" He asked, his voice strained.

Naomi nodded her head slowly, as if understanding his concern, which was strange, considering she shouldn't have known about his and Dick's relationship. "I'm afraid he has a role to play in all this. He is within his rights to ask to be here."

"For what? What is this, Naomi? Where is Gabriel? Ruby's out there, so he's here, too, right?" She frowned and finally met his gaze.

"Sir. There are a great deal of things that I need to explain to you. It's going to be…difficult to deal with at first."

Castiel nodded numbly, his features becoming serious as he prepared himself for whatever she had to say. He knew it was going to be bad. The rumors that everyone was mentioning. The emergency meetings. The recalls from out of the country. His father- and now Gabriel- not returning his calls.

Naomi took a deep breath and began, "About a year ago, we realized that the company had been infiltrated by a high-level corporate spy. Sensitive information was being leaked to our closest competitor, TAS Incorporated. In addition to the leaked data, we also discovered significant amounts of money from the company were disappearing."

Castiel felt like ice water was pulsing through his veins. His father's company was…being attacked? Naomi pressed on, "We couldn't pin point the mole or moles. The best we could determine was that it was someone very senior to the company, most likely in an executive or presidential position. The losses to the company have been very damaging. As it stands, we may need to shut down multiple branches just to make headway. Even that would only be a temporary fix if we cannot locate the leak."

Castiel tried to breath, his mind racing. "Naomi, that's…that's insane. The number of lay-offs involved…we can't just close whole branches down all of the sudden. ADA is one of the top employers in this country, not to mention all the others."

Naomi nodded, her face grim. "Yes, sir." She hesitated. "That's not all, though." Castiel couldn't imagine what else could possibly be compounded onto corporate espionage and mass lay-offs. "About two weeks ago your father left."

Castiel's head snapped up in confusion. He asked, dreading the answer, "Left…?"

"He disappeared without warning. All he left was a note- instructions for the running of the company. They are legally binding." At this point, she made eye-contact with Castiel and spoke very clearly, "He essentially placed his leadership responsibilities and duties into the hands of his next closest blood relations." Castiel began to feel lightheaded, his chest tightening,"We notified Gabriel of his responsibilities last Friday, and we briefed the board members of the state of the company."

Castiel sat in shocked silence for several seconds after she spoke. It was almost impossible to understand. Their father had devoted his entire life to the company. He wouldn't just abandon it suddenly.

He finally rasped out, "Where is Gabriel? I…I need to speak with him. We need to…we need to find our dad."

Naomi looked away from Castiel, down at the floor. "Gabriel has… left, too. He also left a note, like your father."

Her business-like voice shifted into something more gentle and soft, "I'm so sorry, Castiel. But you are now the Head of the ADA."

Castiel's heart stuttered, and he was sure it was going to stop completely.

He was in charge of ADA.

The entire company was in his hands. All the thousands of employees across the globe.

His eyes landed to a stray jelly bean on the floor by the wall. Just last week Gabriel had been in here, sitting with him and teasing him about his crush. Asking him what he wanted to do that evening after work.

Now Castiel was alone. He was responsible for dealing with corporate espionage, embezzlement, and lay-offs.

"Fuck." Castiel breathed incredulously.

…-^o^-…

The tension outside the office was thick.

Charlie had no idea what was going on.

Many of the faces were new. They looked serious. Stressed, but very professional. Most of them stood patiently along the walls, going over paperwork that they pulled from their expensive looking briefcases.

Crowley was there, looking extremely nervous. His eyes kept darting to the tall, handsome man standing calmly near Jess's desk. The man looked like the epitome of calm and confident. Occasionally, one of the other people would approach him cautiously, holding up a document for his approval. Their behavior combined with Crowley's gave Charlie the impression that he was someone very important. He occasionally smiled, but it didn't make Charlie feel better. His smile was freakishly perfect. Fake.

Plus, he had strolled over and given Castiel a huge bouquet of flowers and a quick peck on the cheek as soon as the stunned man had stepped out of the elevator. Even Jess and Anna gaped at the intimate gesture.

And Castiel had just…stood there, staring at the man, then down at the flowers, then back.

Charlie couldn't figure it out. She needed some information.

She turned to glance over at Ruby.

Now that was an even more worrying sight. Ruby was, by Charlie's own accounts, a bitch.

She lost her temper easily and always had a cutting remark handy whenever someone crossed her. She wasn't a bully, necessarily. She was…strict. Harsh. Critical, even. When she didn't like someone, she was quick to let them know.

That was why Charlie and the other secretaries didn't get along with her. She had immediately zeroed in on Anna's meekness, furious that the young woman allowed people to walk all over her. In Ruby's book, showing weakness was close to a sin. People had to be tough, women especially. One woman propagating the 'weak-female' stereotype set all women back decades.

Her beef with Charlie was something else entirely. Neither woman admitted it, but it basically came down to Gabriel.

The man had immediately become friends with Charlie when she had first started working at the ADA. He had given her the nick-name 'Red' and even tried to recruit her to his offices upstairs. Charlie had been down for it at first, liking Gabriel's easy going attitude, and sharing a common interest in attractive ladies.

But Ruby didn't know Charlie was only into women at that time, and had felt threatened. So, naturally she had lashed out. The snarky jabs and hateful attitude went on for several weeks before Charlie lost her shit and shouted angrily for the entire office floor, including Gabriel, to hear, "Dammit, chick! I am not trying to get into Gabriel's pants! His dick is all yours- I don't want it!"

Nobody spoke of that day, except in hushed whispers in the shadows of the break rooms.

It was like saying 'You-Know-Who's name' in the wizarding world. Everybody just pretended it hadn't happened. Charlie was moved back downstairs and Ruby kept clear of her as much as possible from then on.

Gabriel, however, had practically floated around the ADA building for weeks afterwards with massive grin on his face.

Now Charlie watched Ruby as subtly as possible from her desk.

She looked like a zombie.

An angry zombie. Her eyes were glaring, empty of emotion, at nothing as she stood along the wall of the offices.

Maybe Charlie could risk sneaking in a word with her during a bathroom break? She thought about that idea for a few moments before shaking her head. No. Even if they didn't have a bad history between them, Ruby probably wouldn't be allowed to discuss what was going on. The atmosphere practically screamed 'Classified'.

Charlie sighed to herself. Maybe Castiel would be able tell her what the fuss was about once he got out of his meeting with Naomi.

That was really the scariest thing about all this. Naomi was a legend.

She had served as the secretary for Mr. Novak Senior, the ADA Founder, since practically the beginning. She was said to be capable of running the entire company single-handedly with all of her experience. And yet she spoke respectfully to everyone, and somehow knew them all by name. Just like Daddy-Novak. There were long-standing rumors that the two were lovers, but nobody ever knew for sure.

Charlie thought it would be super-romantic if they were. They looked good together.

_So, why was she here, at the Lawrence offices without her boss?_ Charlie's nervousness only grew as the door to Castiel's office remained shut.

…-^o^-…

"What does all this mean, Naomi? What do you want from me?" Castiel's voice asked weakly from where he was leaning his head into his hands on the desk. "I don't know how to run the company. Just because my dad could do it, doesn't mean I can."

"Castiel," Her voice was firm, "You have no choice. The company needs a leader, and you were the one chosen. I know you don't feel confident in your abilities, but we wont let you fail. Michael has already organized a Public Relations Team to handle the fall-out. There's no telling how soon the scandal will be leaked to the media. It's…it's very likely that the missing money will be linked to your father and brother's disappearances." She said carefully.

Castiel gaped at her. "You…you can't be serious? That's ridiculous!"

Naomi frowned and nodded her head. "I know, Castiel. We all know that, but…we can't explain that to the press. I'm not going to lie. It is going to be very difficult for you. But, you are our only chance. You have to be the face of the company."

"Do…do I have to leave?" He asked, he mind flashing to Dean.

How was he going to explain this?

There was no telling how long this fiasco was going to last.

_Months?_

_…Years?_

"We should return to Head Quarters in San Diego. We are calling in all of the Executives and setting up temporary housing inside the complex in preparation of the media back-lash. The sooner we release the facts to the media, the sooner we can start putting out fires started by rumors."

Castiel slumped in his seat, the full weight of what was being asked of him finally hitting him. "I can't just…leave my life here, Naomi." He straightened up, forcing his voice to stop stuttering. "We don't have to go to San Diego, right? We can do it all from here, can't we?"

She frowned, seeming to consider his question. "That would be…difficult, sir."

"I don't care. I don't want to leave- at least…at least not so soon. Make plans for us to work from here." It was an order, he realized. He had just given Naomi an order. He felt like he was falling down the rabbit hole.

Naomi watched him carefully for several moments with a small frown, then nodded her understanding. "Very well, sir. I will let Michael know of your decision."

…-^o^-…

When the door to Castiel's office opened, everyone's attention snapped immediately to it.

But, instead of Castiel appearing in the doorframe, Naomi stepped out. She glanced quickly around the space, before addressing Ruby first.

"Ruby, we will be working from here instead of San Diego. Have a computer station set up for you here by Mr. Novak's office." Ruby nodded, barely looking up at the woman.

"Everyone else, make yourselves comfortable wherever you can. Plan for a long stay. Alfie," Naomi turned her head, and with a shock, Charlie realized that a young looking man had been sitting quietly just a few feet behind her without her noticing, "Please work with Charlie to arrange for Mr. Novak's meals to be taken in his office throughout today. We have a lot of information to cover, so expect to stay late this evening."

The young man smiled and nodded enthusiastically. He looked at Charlie, who was still trying to figure out when the man had sat down by her. They stared for several seconds, his bright smile never leaving.

The rest of the group quickly dispersed. President Crowley hung around for several minutes, looking as if he wanted to demand answers from someone, but unsure who he could threaten. He finally gave up, stomping to the elevator and leaving.

The only person who remained, aside from Zombie-Ruby making a call to IT, was Alfie and the man who had kissed Castiel and handed him the flowers. Charlie watched the tall man stare thoughtfully at Castiel's office door. He turned his head, flashing his teeth at the three secretaries.

"Ladies, how are you doing this morning?" The question was obviously a pretense to get them to lower their defenses. They answered him positively anyway, smiling uncomfortably.

"I'm so glad that Castiel is in such excellent hands. I have been very concerned about him since he left our offices to come here." The three women nodded, and it was Anna of all people, who asked what they were each thinking.

"Are you a…friend of Mr. Novak's?" As if a friend would blatantly bring flowers and kiss another man in front of a group of people.

"Actually," he glanced down at her nameplate at the front of her desk, "Anna, I am Castiel's boyfriend. Dick Roman, but please, call me Dick." His smiled and extended his hand to her. While she shook it, Jess and Charlie exchanged panicked glances behind his back.

No way this was going to end well. Charlie remembered what Gabriel had said about Castiel's last boyfriend. What had he called it? The 'Dick Fiasco'. Now it made more sense. It would have been funny, except for the fact that the man was here, in Lawrence, and referring to himself as Castiel's boyfriend- as in present tense.

_Oh, man._ And Castiel hadn't even flinched away from his kiss. _Maybe he was in shock?_

Ex's could do that to a person. Charlie had once been at a LARP where the ruler of a neighboring Dwarfdom had declared war on another kingdom after finding out that Charlie had spent the night in the other queen's tent. Charlie had been so caught off guard that she hadn't come to the kingdoms aid in time. _There had been so many casualties…._

Now she found herself faced with the big question: Should they warn Dean that Castiel's Ex was in town, and apparently in denial about their break-up?

Charlie didn't get paid enough to deal with this kind of real-world drama.

…-^o^-…

"And then he won, like, twenty stuffed animals! It was awesome. And the last thing he won was a minion, you know, from that movie? And he holds it up, and was all like, 'Now Lucifer has two loyal minions', cuz when we had our first date, I brought one over for Lucifer. Did I tell you guys about Lucifer? You know, the cat he almost ran over that first time he came in? Yeah, I picked the name, myself. Cas thought it was really cool. He's an awesome cat. When I visited Cas at the Pet Store on Saturday, they had totally isolated him away from the rest of the kittens because he was being a little shit. But he's actually not that bad, just-"

"Dean. Please just let us eat our lunches in peace." Benny drawled out painfully.

"Hey! I had to listen to gushing about clothes shopping with Anna for like, an hour, so you can shut the hell up and listen to my story." Dean snapped defensively.

"Stories." Bobby's gruff voice spoke up from the break room sofa where he was eating chips straight from the bag. Dean glared at him. He shrugged his shoulder defensively, "Well, it wasn't just the one, was it? You've been yakking for damn near an hour yourself." He turned back to his chips with an eye-roll.

There was a knock at the door to the break room and Jo's head appeared leaning in. "Um, hey guys. I just wanted to…uh… Dean? Could I speak with you? Now?"

Ash, Benny and Bobby all turned to look at Dean. Dean sat his double-stacked sandwich down slowly, confused. "Uh, yeah. I guess." He rose, following Jo.

To his surprise, she led him all the way out to the lot, walking deep into the midst of the damaged and abandoned piles of cars. She finally stopped and turned to him, not meeting his eye.

Dean shifted nervously, and tried to chuckle to relax the tension. "Geez, Jo. If you're planning on confessing your feelings and jumping me, I gotta warn you. Cas could probably kick your ass."

Jo didn't smile. In fact, she seemed to frown even more.

"Dean. You need to…ah. Okay, so…" She struggled to find the right words. Dean waited patiently, eyebrows raised. Jo took a deep breath and just let it all out. "Lisa is back in town and you need to go talk to her, like, right now."

Dean blinked his eyes as he felt the words sink in. "Lisa…? She's back in Lawrence?"

Jo nodded, watching him carefully. "Yeah. You two…need to have a talk. She wants to see you, but she, uh, wasn't sure how you'd take her showing up suddenly after, you know…."

"After she turned down my proposal and walked out of my life with barely a good-bye? After that, you mean?" Dean felt himself growing angry. "You know what? Fuck that! I don't have anything left to say to her."

"Dean…" Jo began pleadingly.

"No. We're through. I don't need her showing back up in my life when I have… Now that I'm with Cas. Tell her to go back to her fiancé or her sister or where ever." Dean spun around, walking back to the garage pissed.

_Shit. Of course would finally come back to him as soon as he didn't want to see her anymore._

He felt a small twang of something. That gaping pit in his stomach that had seemed to stay with him after she had left began to ache. That familiar hopeless sadness that she had left behind started to blossom again.

He shut it down. Hard.

_What the hell was she trying to do? Was she making amends with all the little-people she screwed over before her wedding? Why the hell would she think that he was going to agree to listen to her apologetic bullshit, anyway._

_He had moved on. He had Cas now._

_Cas. He needed to talk to Cas. Just to hear his voice and be reminded that this wasn't as big a deal as it seemed._

He pulled out his phone, dialing Cas's number.

It went straight to voicemail. Shit.

He typed out a quick text.

**D: hey let me know if you are free to hang out tonight**

Dean thought about adding 'I miss you' at the end.

He decided against it.

_It was implied, right?_

…-^o^-...

"What? So this Dick-guy still thinks that they are a thing? Castiel literally put 'states' between them. How much more clear could he be?" Sam scoffed as he ladled spaghetti sauce onto his and Jess's plates. They were in her small, but cozy apartment kitchen.

"Yeah," She said hesitantly.

Sam noticed the concern in her voice, giving her a quick glance. "That's all it is, right? I mean, Castiel is gonna set him straight, isn't he?"

Jess sat her plate down on the table, but didn't sit. "Sam, I…I don't know. Something is going on. Like, 'big deal' with the company. I think they want Castiel to go back to California." She looked worriedly up at Sam to see his reaction to the news.

He was frowning, thinking hard. At last, he spoke, "That's…not good." He finished lamely. "I mean, obviously if he has to go for business, then there's not much we can do about it. But…permanently? And now his Ex is in town? I don't like this."

Jess nodded. "Dick's not just an Ex, though, Sam. He's one of the Executives on the board. That means that if Castiel does go to Head Quarters, then Dick will be there with him every day." She finally sat, staring down at her food in confusion. "It just doesn't make sense, though. Castiel isn't an executive or anything like that. There's no reason for someone on his low-level of the totem pole to get called to Head Quarters. Unless it has something to do with his father or brother."

Sam's forehead crinkled with concern. "I wonder if he's told Dean about any of this. He must've, right? I mean, it's practically dating 101. If your Ex suddenly pops in to pay you a visit, you have to tell your current boyfriend or girlfriend immediately. Everyone knows that."

…-^o^-…

Dean stared down at his phone, frowning.

It was late, and Castiel had never gotten back to him.

He sat alone in his house, the TV playing an old horror movie in the background, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

He was too pissed with Jo to go to the Road House tonight. Where did she get off sticking her nose in his business? So Lisa wanted to see him? Tough shit. He'd waited like a pathetic loser for months for her to come back. Instead, she had decided to settle down with some loser she barely knew. Live the life he had wanted to share with her.

_Fuck it- not his problem anymore._

_…So, why was it bothering him so much?_

He grunted angrily. He didn't need her. And clearly she didn't feel like she needed him. They both were free to live their separate lives.

Maybe he should go over to Cas's place and see him in person.

_That was all he needed. To see Cas._

_To be reminded how much better everything was without Lisa._

_Would he look too clingy, though? They both had work in the morning, and this morning had already proven that it was dangerous for them to wake up together._

Dean grinned to himself, remembering the amazing wake-up he had received.

He looked back down at his phone, his frown slowly returning.

_C'mon, Cas. What's the hold up…?_

…-^o^-…

When Castiel finally emerged from the office, it was already past eleven p.m.

He walked past the empty secretary desks. They had been sent home much earlier.

Naomi had also left shortly after them. She had spent the entire day covering his new duties with him and outlining their strategies for handling the scandal. He had opted to stay behind and go back over his notes. His eyes were burning and he needed a shower. It felt like the day had lasted forever. And it had started out so well…

"Done for the night, sir?" I peppy voice asked. Castiel almost jumped out of his skin. He snapped his head back around to the secretaries desks, and sure enough, poking his head up from behind a large monitor screen was the young intern he had met earlier.

"Ah…uh, Alfie, wasn't it?" The young man nodded happily as he turned the computer off and stood to join Castiel. "Why are you here so late, Alfie? You didn't have to stay because of me, did you?"

"Oh, no sir! I just like to get as much work done as possible before I leave for the night. They put us up in some nice hotel rooms, but the computer access isn't all that great." They walked to the elevator together.

"Alfie…" Castiel began, hesitantly, eyes glancing at the multiple cameras along the hall, "Is everything, uh, really as bad as they are saying?"

The young man smiled and shrugged cheerfully, "I couldn't say, sir. But, Mr. Michael seems very upset. He hasn't been getting much sleep lately. Not many people on the PR team have."

And this was just the beginning, Castiel thought. How many long hours was he going to be facing when the news of the embezzlement and disappearances were released?

He was exhausted as he made his way out of the large building, heading to his car. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Alfie waving at something in the distance across the parking lot.

"Is...Is someone you know still working, too?" Castiel asked, seeing a dark car parked in that direction.

"Oh, yeah. Those are some of my friends from the HQ Security team. They have to stay up to keep and eye on you."

Castiel froze just as he was about to get inside his car. "What? They're following me?!"

Alfie seemed as if Castiel being followed and watched by a security detail was no big deal. "Of course, sir. Michael ordered them to do it after Gabriel escaped on Saturday. I think they are worried that you'll make a run for it, too." He chuckled to himself. "Well, have a good night, sir!" He waved happily as he walked away.

Castiel was too tired for this. All of this.

He felt like his brain was going to explode in his head. Scandals, escapes, dark vans following him around. How did his life become so crazy in just twenty-four hours?

He needed sleep. His was drained mentally and emotionally. He couldn't think straight anymore.

That was the only reason he didn't realize he was still carrying the bright yellow bouquet from Dick.

* * *

*Gasp* So much drama!

Next up: Dick (Being himself)

Castiel has a very public panic attack.

Sam meddles and causes problems (stop the press).

Dean causes a scene.

Angry Cas is sexy.


	25. Chapter 25-Surprise Visits (Suck)

Special thanks to InThePalmOfMyHand! This super-hero volunteered their services as my beta/sanity-checker and did a fantastic job helping me clean up this chapter before posting! (If you all hadn't noticed, I've been pretty much winging it until now...) So, big thanks to InThePalmOfMyHand for being awesome and saving me from further embarrassing grammatical errors!

Now, on to the rising drama!

* * *

The second the elevator doors slid open Castiel could hear the pathetic mewling of Lucifer echoing down the hall from his apartment. The knowledge that he was responsible for caring for the needy cat piled upon his already burdened mind. If the damn thing wasn't so cute and helpless….

There was just so much for which he was responsible. Not just an overly-energetic foster kitten with abandonment issues.

Now he had the burden of thousands of people all over the world, with their own families, bills, mortgages and, hell, probably even a few foster dogs and cats of their own.

And if he didn't measure up, then they could all be unemployed by the end of the year. Some even sooner, based on what Naomi went over with him today.

Castiel moved forward, kneading his hands over his eyes to fight back the exhaustion just a bit longer.

_He had to feed Lucifer._

_And charge his phone so he could call Dean. Castiel felt a wave of warmth wash over his entire body at the thought of his sexy, green-eyed mechanic. If all of these issues hadn't been thrown on Castiel's lap this morning, would he be with Dean now? Maybe wrapped in his arms already after a long, heated session of love-making?_

_Dean…_

_What was he going to tell Dean about all this? Naomi hadn't argued with his choice to stay in Lawrence, but Castiel knew that it completely impractical._

"You kept the flowers."

Castiel's head shot up and his hands fell from his eyes. "…Dick?" For a moment Castiel was too stunned to even collect his thoughts. The sudden shift from picturing Dean's gentle smirk to seeing Dick's flashy white smile was almost too much to follow. Then, the man's words caught up with his brain and Castiel stared down at his hands, realizing that he was, in fact, carrying the bright yellow bouquet from Dick.

_Well, shit._

"I had a feeling they would cheer you up. I know today has been really tough on you." He smiled, moving forward to pull Castiel into an embrace.

Castiel realized his intentions just in time to react. He threw his arms up to stop Dick's hug, unintentionally batting the tall man in the face with his fist full of flowers. Yellow petals exploded into the air, catching in Dick's short, immaculate brown hair as he pulled away.

Dick stepped further back with a frown, brushing the petals testily off of his blazer. "I suppose this means you are still upset with me?" He asked, sending Castiel a tight, stiff smile.

Castiel scoffed loudly and shoved the flowers roughly into Dick's stomach as he pushed his way past to unlock his door.

He felt a tug at his suit sleeve for him to turn back around. Dick looked almost remorseful as he stared down at the ground. "I know you heard what I said to Raphael that day." When Castiel didn't answer, he continued, "After the first few days, when I heard about your relocation, I checked the security cameras on the day you left. I had a feeling…since you left so suddenly." He turned his eyes up to meet Castiel's, inching himself closer almost imperceptibly. "You have to realize, Castiel, I was just bragging. I didn't want people to think we were only together because I wanted to climb the corporate ladder. That's all everybody thinks. That I'm only out for myself and using you. I… I wanted people to know that we were real-"

"By trash-talking me and making me sound desperate for you? That's how you planned to convince people that you were serious about me?!" Castiel could feel the pent up anger and frustration from the entire day begin to overflow. "We are done, Dick. I have a new life here. I don't need to deal with your constant apologies and ridiculous attitude towards people. Find someone else to 'brag' about!" Castiel turned back to the door angrily, Lucifer's meows escalating in volume when he raised his voice.

"You forgot to mention the mechanic."

At Dick's quiet words, Castiel froze with the key in the lock, waiting to be turned. He carefully looked over his shoulder at Dick. "Yes, I know about 'Dean'. I ran into that flaming british moron, Balthazar last week. He didn't waste any time rubbing your new relationship in my face. In front of half the damn office…"

"That's…he's not your concern, Dick. You aren't a part of my life any more. Leave Dean out of this." Castiel gritted out angrily, planning to make a heated call to Balthazar as soon as possible. How the hell could he tell Dick, of all people, about Dean?

"Of course it's my concern, Castiel. We aren't even officially broken up yet!" He ignored Castiel's incredulous laugh, "Give me a few days to try and make it up to you. I already gave you nearly a month and half to calm down. You can't seriously want to end what we had?"

Castiel turned and stared at Dick for several seconds. He spoke clearly, enunciating each word. "Dick. You have been dumped. You were dumped the second those words came out of your mouth. There is no 'we' anymore. Leave. Now."

He turned back to the door but was quickly spun back around by a the taller man's strong hand. Dick grabbed both of his shoulders and grasped tightly, his face pained and sincere. "Castiel, please. I know I've made a lot of mistakes. I'm not saying I've been a perfect boyfriend! But, I …I know I can be better if you just give me another chance. Don't I deserve that at least?"

Castiel felt the blood drain from his face. Dick continued, "I'm an idiot for not chasing after you immediately. I know that! I just...I thought you needed time. I didn't expect you to…to throw yourself at some filthy car repairman. And certainly not a straight one! Castiel," his hands moved to cup the sides Castiel's face as he whispered sadly, "You know it would never work out with him, right? He's not like us."

Castiel stood frozen in place, Dick's words ringing through his head. They were exactly what Castiel had been trying to deny to himself since he had first met Dean.

_Dean wasn't gay._

_Dean was never going to stay with him._

_They were two completely different people… It would never last._

Castiel shoved Dick away with such a force that the man stumbled and caught himself on the nearby wall. Dick stared at Castiel with surprise for several moments, noting his furious face and tense stance.

Dick whispered quietly, almost too low for Castiel to hear, "You wouldn't be so angry if you knew it wasn't true…"

Castiel flinched at the words, forcing his trembling hands to unclench at his sides. He growled, his voice a rumbling threat, "You have NO right to come here and try to ruin what we have. I won't tell you again, Dick. Leave."

Dick looked away, frowning and clearly frustrated. Castiel took the opportunity to turn back to the door and finally open it, scooping the excited Lucifer up and pulling him close- tighter than usual.

He needed to get away from Dick. Away from his words, which sounded too familiar.

Just as he tried to shut the door, it was caught by Dick's hand. "Castiel- wait!" Castiel took a deep calming breath, turning slowly back to Dick. "I- you know why I came here." He muttered the words quickly, his face showing his embarrassment.

"You _cannot_ be serious, Dick. No. Absolutely not."

"Castiel…please. I'm not asking to DO anything. You know that. I just…I figured...you know how bad it can get."

"I said 'no'. Your cuddling privileges have been revoked. Do whatever the hell you've been doing since we separated." He moved to close the door again, but Dick wouldn't release his grip.

"What I've 'been doing' is choking down a cocktail of sleeping pills and scotch every night for the last month and a half! I hate it. Just let me lie beside you- I promise I wont try anything. Your 'mechanic' doesn't have to know. Come on, Castiel…" He leaned forward into the crack of the door, practically begging.

For just the briefest moment, Castiel felt a twang of pity for him. Dick had always had a rough time sleeping by himself. He kept it a well-hidden secret, but Castiel had found out early in their relationship that no matter how late Dick worked, he would always return to Castiel's bed at night to sleep.

Castiel pushed the memories away and growled out firmly, "Dick, the answer is 'no'. I won't say it again. If you can't stand sleeping alone, then hire a damn prostitute. Now move your hand or I swear I'll crush it in the door frame." Castiel had finally had enough, pressing against the door enough to make it clear that he was serious.

Dick gave him one more long, mournful stare, before withdrawing his hand.

The door shut.

Castiel leaned heavily against it, trying to quietly gasp in air. Lucifer squirmed against him, making an effort to climb his suit up to his shoulder. Castiel loosened his grip on the small cat as he heard Dick's footstep finally move down the hall.

He refused to look through the door's peephole.

For the smallest fraction of a moment, he had almost given in. He had almost cracked and let Dick into his apartment. Back into his life.

_Why the hell had he kept the flowers…?_

…-^o^-…

Dean waded his way out of deep sleep at the insistent tone of his phone signaling a call. His numb body moved slowly, fumbling for it in his back pocket. His heavy eyes registered the name 'Cas' on the caller ID and his entire body felt as though it had been shot up with adrenaline. He almost dropped the phone in his haste to answer.

"Ca-Cas?! Hey, man! I was…I was getting worried." He checked the clock. "Geez, man. It's late. Another Brain-Tank-thing?"

_'No, Dean. I, uh, had a lot of other things come up at work today. And my phone actually died Saturday night. I'm sorry…'_

Dean picked up on the exhaustion in the man's voice. "Well, hey, no big deal. Don't push yourself. We can talk tomorrow."

_'No! I…I really need to hear your voice, Dean. Can you just…talk to me for a while?'_

Dean sat up slowly on the living room sofa. "Yeah, Cas. I want to talk to you, too. I feel like it's been forever since yesterday…" Dean chuckled.

_'Yeah,' _Castiel murmured on his end.

"What are you doing? Getting ready for bed?" Dean's tone shifted slightly, the obvious tinge of lust slipping into his words.

He could hear Castiel's smile as he answered in a husky whisper, _'Already in bed, actually._'

Dean's eyebrows shot up. He was wide awake now. "Oh, yeah?" He purred. "What are you wearing? Those hot pajama pants? Or nothing?" Please say nothing, Dean pleaded silently as he grinned to himself.

_'Not a thing,' _came Castiel's hushed reply, followed by an almost imperceptible low moaning sound.

Dean's breath hitched. He knew that sound.

"Are...are you _touching_ yourself!?" Castiel just chuckled in his deep gravelly voice in answer. "Dammit, Cas. That's _my_ job! Shit- wait, okay? I, I can be there in, like, twenty minutes-" he was already on his feet scrambling to grab his keys and wallet.

Castiel just chuckled, _'Don't bother- I'll be done long before you get here. And I'm too tired to get up again to unlock the door...'_

"Fuck, Cas- You're killing me!" Dean practically whined, heading straight for his room through the darkness instead. "Tell me where you're touching yourself. Describe it for me, Babe."

Castiel's laugh sent shivers through Dean's entire body. He felt himself hardening as he tried to strip hurriedly while keeping the phone pressed to ear. _'Well, I have the phone on speaker so I can use both hands…'_

"Oh, fuck me- Where are your damn hands at Cas?" Dean palmed his rigid member as soon as his pants and boxers slid down his legs.

_'Hmm…one is rubbing my nipples…you know how I like that, remember?'_

Dean almost choked. Of course he remembered. Cas' nipples were sensitive. They had a direct connection to his cock. Dean's entire body was flushed and tingling. His heart was hammering in his chest.

"Mmm…fuck, yeah, I remember. Shit- what are you doing to them?" He slipped backwards onto his bed, relaxing into it as Cas' voice hummed through the phone.

_'I'm taking turns, pinching then rubbing them both. I wish I had your tongue here to give them a warm lick. That would feel…mmm…so good.'_

"_Ah_…fuck-" Dean stroked himself harder, picturing Cas laid out completely naked on his huge bed, his nipples red and perky from attention. "The other one- _ah_…! Where is your other hand, Cas?" Dean demanded.

Castiel's breathy laugh was cut short by his needy moan. _'Guess...'_

"Son-of-a-" Dean murmured, throwing his head back. It sounded like Cas was already close. Dean felt like he wasn't going to last much longer either. "Tell me how it feels, Cas. What are you thinking of?"

_'I'm thinking of you…'_ Dean's strokes became rougher, more erratic as Cas struggled to speak _'…those dirty coveralls pooled at your feet. Your greasy hands all over my body as you…unh…take me from behind…leaning me over the impala-Ahhh-!'_

The sound of Castiel's shaky voice ending in a stammering moan as he came sent Dean careening over the edge himself. He bucked up, into his tight grip, milking his orgasm as he writhed and shuddered.

For several moments the only sound on either side of the line was heavy breathing and gasps.

"Mmm…we have GOT to do that more often." Dean managed when he could finally speak again.

Castiel's tired laugh sounded from the other end. "Definitely, Dean." There was more silence filled by only the sound of breathing. Neither man wanted to end the call, so they waited listening to the other as their breaths slowed.

"…Cas?" Dean whispered.

_'Unn…?'_ Came the weak reply.

For a moment Dean almost started to tell him about Lisa's return. He wanted to get it off his chest. The heavy burden of the secret felt alien to him. Cas should know. He should have a chance to hear how Dean felt. About the proposal nightmare. The months of depression. The anger at her sudden return, and her request to see him.

But something kept his mouth shut. It felt almost like fear. A small nagging concern that what they had could change at the admission. That the knowledge that Dean had been so close to belonging to Lisa would somehow up-end his and Cas' happiness.

_'Dean…?'_ Cas' voice drifted to him, sounding as if he was barely holding out from sleep.

"Nevermind, Cas. Get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow and we'll hang out, alright?"

_'Mmm…night, Dean…'_

"Goodnight, Cas…"

…-^o^-…

The diner had just opened at six a.m.

A tired Tessa smiled when she saw the old man, Ted, already standing outside the door as she flipped the sign. He was staring at the rising sun, it's golden rays cresting over the trees and shadowed statues of the cemetery far in the distance. He had a cigarette in one hand and a cheap-looking cell phone in the other.

Tessa beckoned him in with a smile, overhearing his words as he put out his cigarette and stepped in through the door.

"That's a very interesting development. You think it has something to do with the new man, Dean?" He paused listening to the other line. He chuckled quietly at what was said. "A hopeless romantic, huh? It's a complication, but I don't think you need to take any action. Love tends to be…resilient. If it is meant to be, then it will be. Don't try to force it. Are we any closer to finding out who is behind all of this?" He listened again, taking his seat in the familiar corner booth.

Chuck stepped out from the back kitchen and moved around the corner carrying two mugs and a steaming coffee pot. He joined Ted, waiting patiently for him to finish his call.

"I see. Well, for now leave it to him. He's sharper than he realizes. You should take care of yourself, too. You're in just as much danger. Tread carefully." He listened for a moment more, smiling to himself. "Yes. He's fine. He's worried about you, too….Alright, son. Let me know if anything else changes. Good-bye."

Tessa stepped over carefully, having been eavesdropping. She tried to sound unsuspicious as she asked, "Son? Oh, was that one of your sons on the phone?"

Ted smiled at her and answered carefully, "Yes...in a way. That was my other son, the one I mentioned before. The one that's not really mine...but he feels like it." His eyes drifted for a moment. "He's a good boy. Clever. I worry about him, though." His smile returned. "I worry about all three of them. They have a tough road ahead…"

"Well, I'm glad that you're in touch with somebody, at least." She smiled brightly, the concern leaving her voice. She hummed to herself as she moved away, setting up the rest of the diner for customers.

She left Chuck and Ted to their coffee.

They made an interesting pair, neither speaking, both sipping their drinks and staring out the window, as if their minds were elsewhere.

…-^o^-…

Castiel frowned to himself. He stared at his phone, hidden under the conference table while he read Dean's text.

**Dean: road house tonight?**

Castiel sighed. To say his schedule was packed would be an understatement. He had no idea how Naomi was fitting everything in as it was. She seemed to be able to bend space and time to her agenda.

He had just spent most of the morning being briefed by the company accountant, who covered the monetary losses and how they were tracking it. Then by the company stockbroker and his team, who presented figures and charts to show anticipated losses and how to preemptively counter them before the media attacked.

Then, by the PR team, led by a noticeably-tired looking Dick, who appeared to be pretending the previous night had not happened. He tried to smile brightly and stood uncomfortably close to Castiel as he detailed how Castiel should act, what key words he should say, what wardrobe they had picked out for him that would reel in the most public support (Castiel had no idea how the pattern of his tie played into people taking his side, but Dick had an entire stack of data to support it).

They ended up 'fixing' his appearance, spending almost two hours giving him an expensive hair trim and setting him up with an untailored, but still impressive, new suit. Only for the time being, they insisted.

It seemed like the large group covered every possible scenario and obstacle. But, when Dick had begun discussing the matter of Castiel's sexuality, with the strong recommendation from his team that the topic should be completely avoided at all costs, Castiel almost exploded from the embarrassment.

Here he was, packed into a secure room with over twenty of the company's most valuable department heads, talking about his sex life. He almost wanted to verbally attack Dick, demanding whether their own prior relationship was also off-limits for discussion. Embarrass him right back.

But, then, Dick had never been secretive about their relationship. In fact, just like the scene with Raphael, bragging about their relationship was something Dick had never been able to pass on. He had always walked proudly into any restaurant or store alongside Castiel, as if their being together was perfectly natural.

It had been..._nice_ having someone proud to be with him. Even if Dick took it to the extreme and ran his mouth off about it a bit too often.

Castiel remembered what Dick had said the night before: that he was just bragging; that he was upset that people would accuse him of dating Castiel for his name only.

_Classic Dick. He had to protect his ego._

Now it was early afternoon with no end in sight. He eyed the text from Dean again, the dull hum of the voices discussing the handling of company taxes almost putting him to sleep.

This wasn't his life. He couldn't follow what the voices were saying. He would need a Master's Degree to understand them. He began texting Dean back.

**Castiel: Sorry, not looking possible. Very busy again.**

He returned his gaze to the power point at the front of the room while he waited for a response.

His phone vibrated in his hand. He glanced down.

**Dean: that sucks. maybe 2morrow?**

Castiel sighed again. How could he even plan time to spend with Dean. His entire schedule for the next several months was already being laid out by Naomi and the teams. And it was only going to get worse once the media caught wind of everything.

Castiel sat up straight with a terrifying jolt of realization. It suddenly occurred to him, for the first time, that if the media came after him, then Dean could easily get caught in the crossfire.

_What would happen if they found out about his relationship with Dean?_

_If they were going to go on a witch hunt, then would that lead them to Dean's door?_

_Would Dean need a security detail? What about the Auto Repair Shop? Would the workers there be safe from questioning? And the Road House?_

_How out-of-control could this get? Would his relationship with Dean be thrown into the public limelight? Broadcasted all over television for the world to see?!_

_Holy shit. He had to warn him. Tell him everything._

Castiel mind raced and he felt himself become lightheaded, his stomach giving an abrupt roll. He staggered from his chair, drawing the attention of the entire room.

He lurched for the door, darkness creeping into his vision.

_Don't pass out,_ He thought desperately to himself. _Not here. Got to call Dean. He needs to know…_

Just as he felt himself begin to stumble, a strong grip caught his arm and kept him on his shaky feet..

"I believe we are overdue for a break. Everyone take thirty minutes." Dick stated calmly, as if nothing was wrong. However, the authority in his voice was clear. He gripped Castiel's elbow, practically holding him up as he led him from the room over to his own office down the hall.

Castiel had chosen to remain on the ninth floor. As the passed the secretary's desk, Castiel managed to catch Charlie's face in his blurry vision as they passed. She began to rise, asking worriedly, "Boss, are you okay?" Jess and Anna were on their feet immediately, as well.

Ruby suddenly appeared at his side, taking his other arm as she opened his office door for them.

Castiel wasn't sure how long had passed with his heart racing painfully and his head pounding, but found himself leaning back in his chair, a damp rag placed over his eyes. Someone was holding his hand, squeezing gently. He used his other hand to pull away the rag, and realized it was Dick sitting beside him, face tense with worry.

Naomi was by the door whispering instructions to Ruby, who was nodding and casting Castiel nervous glances. Alfie was by the phone, speaking quietly to someone. "No, sir, we will resume the briefs later this afternoon. Everyone is standing by…No, Mr. Novak is fine-just forgot to eat breakfast this morning. Too eager to get in to work, sir. Nothing to be concerned about, sir…Yes, sir. Yes, I'll let Naomi know to call you with an update…Yes, sir." He sat the phone down, and spoke quietly to Naomi, "Michael, ma'am."

Castiel watched as Naomi nodded. She dismissed Ruby, shutting the office door.

Both Naomi and Dick's eyes fell on him. They looked concerned, like he was going to pass out or throw up without warning.

"Mr. Novak, how are you feeling?" Naomi finally asked gently.

"I…I'm fine, Naomi. Just had a bad turn." He mumbled. He felt a small squeeze on his hand again and made an effort to pull it from Dick's. He held fast, and Castiel eventually gave up.

Naomi eyed him warily, then gave Dick a look. Dick cleared his throat, turning to Castiel. "You…dropped your phone." He nodded his head to the desk where Castiel's phone was sitting. There was another moment of uncomfortable silence before Dick continued, "We…noticed the text. From Dean." His voice chilled a bit at the mention of Dean's name.

Castiel sucked in breath. "You…you shouldn't be reading my personal texts, Dick." He yanked his hand back, and Dick finally released it, giving him a frown.

"This is about him, isn't it? Castiel, you practically passed out in front of the entire team. Do you know how bad that looks? Tell us what's wrong!"

Castiel considered not saying anything, but he knew that would only hurt Dean in the long run. He intentionally turned away from Dick to address Naomi. "We…we're going to need to warn Dean, aren't we? Brief him about everything. The media. The questions. All of it."

Naomi frowned, nodding slowly. "We had not...anticipated that you would have a local boyfriend. I'm afraid he is going to be pulled into this, as well. If we had-" She caught herself, looking away in embarrassment.

"What is it, Naomi?"

Dick answered, instead. "If we had taken this operation to Head Quarters, like planned, then we could have kept 'Dean' out of all of this." He seemed to want to say something else, and finally muttered quietly, "_We still can._"

Castiel's head turned fast, his temper flaring. "I'm not leaving Dean just because the company is having a rough time, Dick!"

Dick lost his own calm, snapping back, "Well, do it for him then! You think he wants to be on the front page of every newspaper in the country as the 'mistress' of the ADA owner? That's what they'll all say, you know! How is that a better option? You're not-" He cut himself off to cross the room and calm down. He hissed lowly, "You're not thinking clearly. You've know him, what? Three weeks now?"

Castiel was furious, but he wasn't sure if it was all because of Dick, or his own stupidity. Of course Dean would be in danger. The press would be suspicious of why Castiel hadn't taken up residence in San Diego to lead the company. How long before they discovered Dean?

The familiar feeling of lightheadedness and nausea hit Castiel again. He cupped his aching head in his hands. After a few more moments he lifted it and addressed Naomi again. "Do whatever you need to ensure Dean is protected. But, I…I want to be the one to explain all this to him."

Dick let out an exasperated sigh. "So, are you planning to take him to San Diego? Or are you choosing to stay here? Even knowing how dangerous it is?"

Castiel glared at him, causing Dick's mouth to shut quickly before he could continue. "I am not going to 'take' Dean anywhere. I'm not sure what I'll do. I'll let you know what 'we' decide after I have explained everything to him." He shot Dick one final look before turning to Naomi. "I'm feeling better, Naomi. Let's get back to work."

…-^o^-…

Dean was surprised to find Sam at home when he dropped in for a quick lunch on his break.

"Hey! Don't you have a class or something you're supposed to be at?" Dean asked as he stepped past Sam to head to the kitchen.

Castiel had sent him one final text, just saying that he needed to meet with Dean sometime this evening. He couldn't give a solid time, but suggested that it may be late.

Sam didn't answer.

Dean wasn't sure what to make of the text or Castiel's busy schedule. It suddenly occurred to him that his own brother was dating one of the secretaries in Cas' office. How had he missed that? She would have the low-down on what was keeping Cas stuck at work.

He turned back to his brother, who was shifting nervously, like he had something he wanted to ask Dean. Dean ignored him. "Hey, Sammy, I don't reckon you could hit up Jess about what's up in Cas' office? He got super-busy yesterday and today. Seems pretty stressed."

Sam looked panicked for a second, his mouth moving but no words coming out. After a few moments of stuttering he managed, "Actually, uh, that's what I was hoping to talk with you about. Um, Jess…she mentioned that, uh, that Castiel may be…going away. To San Diego."

Dean frowned at his brother, blinking. Was that what Cas wanted to talk to him about this evening? A business trip to California? "Huh. Well, I guess if it's his job, then he doesn't have much of a choice. Does she know how long it'll be?"

Sam made a face that Dean recognized. It was his, 'I'm about to be the bearer of really bad news and I would give anything in the world not to be' face.

_Shit._

"Dean…maybe, uh, maybe Castiel should be the one to talk to you about this. I mean, Jess isn't even his actual secretary. She's not really positive about what's going on."

Sam had Dean's full attention now. "What do you mean 'what's going on'? What does she think is going on?"

"Uh…damn, Dean, I don't know. There's a lot, apparently. None of it looks good."

Dean raised his eyebrows, waiting. When Sam still wouldn't meet his eye and answer, he asked, "How about you cut the crap and tell me what she told you. Is Cas in trouble?" Dean felt his stomach clench with dread.

"Dean…" Sam muttered, face worried.

"Sam. Spill it."

Sam sighed heavily and shrugged, "She… says it looks like a pretty serious shake up has happened at the company. Something to do with the Novak family. Gabriel…well, she doesn't know where he is. But, his secretary and Castiel's father's secretary are both assigned to Castiel now. It looks like they want him to move back to San Diego for…well, probably a long time, from what she's overheard in the office. Maybe…permanently."

He watched his brother's face. At first, it seemed like Dean was going to blow it all off, but then his face dropped and doubt filled his eyes.

"You…you think Cas is-" He swallowed and his eyes darted everywhere as he tried to think. "You think Cas is gonna break-up with me? And go to San Diego? Like, forever?"

Sam had a strong sense of déjà vu suddenly. This was almost exactly like when Lisa bailed.

"Dean…I…I don't know anything. Neither does Jess. It's mostly just speculation. You need to talk to Cas, okay? Maybe this is all just a huge misunderstanding." Sam was really wishing he hadn't said anything. But, he couldn't leave Dean to deal with this by himself. Not again.

Dean was nodding his head, but his mind was reeling.

_Cas couldn't leave him._

_If Cas left…he would…_

_He needed to see Cas. Right this second._

Dean abruptly turned and headed back to the door.

"Dean? Where are you going, man?" Sam asked trying to follow him, nervous about what his brother was going to do.

"Just- just call Jess. Tell her I need to get up to Cas' office to see him. Right now."

And with that, Dean hopped into his car, peeling out as he left the driveway. Sam stared after him.

He hadn't even had a chance to bring up Castiel's Ex.

_This was going to be bad…_

…-^o^-…

The ADA building was enormous and ritzy.

If Jess hadn't met him in the lobby, he wasn't sure what he would have done. Security was tight. He was being eyed warily by several guards as soon as he stepped inside.

And no surprise. He was wearing a tattered pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. The rest of the people bustling around the lobby were decked out in suits and ties.

_At least he wasn't in his dirty coveralls._ His mind immediately flashed to the conversation from the night before. Cas' fantasy of his coverall pooled on the-

_Fuck. He needed to see Cas. Fast. He needed to clear all of this up. It was probably just Sammy and Jess over-reacting._

Across the lobby, elevator door opened and Jess stepped out, eyes landing on him quickly she was clearly nervous. She waved at the front desk, and the security personnel relaxed, but still eyed Dean warily. He smiled and waved cheerfully at them.

She beckoned him into the elevator with her. The doors closed and Dean watched as the lights lit up for each floor. When Jess spoke, Dean almost jumped, pulled from his worried thoughts.

"Dean, I really don't think this is a good time. Castiel's really busy and there are a lot of important people around."

"Sorry, Jess, but I don't care. I need to know if any of this is true. If Cas is really…" He couldn't say it.

"Dean, it's…it's not just that. Um, Sam didn't mention it, but, uh one of the executives-" The elevator door dinged their arrival on the ninth floor. It opened and Dean moved forward with Jess right behind him, still trying to find the words to warn him about Dick Roman.

Charlie and Anna were already in front of their desks, moving forward to cut Dean off. Jess had explained that Dean was on his way as soon as she hung up with Sam.

The women held up their hands to slow him down and began speaking emphatically at the same time. Their voices just mingled with Jess's combining into a dull roar that Dean ignored as he tried to figure out where Castiel was.

_Where was he? Which office was Cas'?_

A door opened down the long hallway and a blond woman with long hair stuck her head out, clearly annoyed. When she saw Dean and the nervous group of women flanking him, she darted out. As she approached she was already hissing in low, hushed tones.

"Is that- Is this 'Dean'? Are you fucking insane? He cannot be here. Get him out! Now!" She cast a nervous look over her shoulder, and Dean saw a man open the same door she had come from. He frowned down the hall, before his eyes locked on Dean.

His eyes narrowed for the barest flash of a second.

The man stepped out and began following the blond woman down the hall towards him. Dean wasn't sure what to think. The man's face had shifted quickly into a friendly smile, his teeth flashing a pearly white that Dean could see all the way from where he stood. It was completely in contrast with the first look he had aimed at him.

The blond woman turned her wide-eyes quickly to Dean, as if trying to signal him to leave- fast. The other women were frozen where they stood between Dean and the approaching man.

"You must be Dean, right? Dick Roman." His smile was wide. Unsure what else to do, Dean took the man's hand, but not before noticing his eyebrows dart up as he noted the grime that never seemed to wash out of the creases and nails of Dean's rough hands.

"Uh, yeah. I'm here to talk to Cas-er, Castiel Novak, I mean." He took his hand back, fighting the urge to try and wipe the dirt away belatedly.

This man made Dean feel…well, like a greasy mechanic. He was tall, with immaculate brown hair and neat nails. His suit looked like it cost a fortune and fit him like a glove. His eyes were sharp, cutting into Dean as if he knew exactly what Dean was thinking.

Dean gritted his teeth. This was exactly the kind of businessman that Dean and the guys at the shop liked to mock.

"Ladies, I'm sure you all have work to do." Dick said in the direction of the women without bothering to even turn his gaze from Dean. Then he gestured smoothly, still smiling for Dean to walk with him into an atrium area near the elevator. A few small groups of people were passing around them. As they walked he spoke in an even tone, "I'm so sorry, Dean. Castiel is stuck in an important meeting. I'm keeping him very busy, you see. Could I take him a message for you?"

The man's voice even sounded rich and snobby. Dean forced the words out, trying to be civil. "No. I'll wait here for him, Dick. Thanks anyway." He stopped moving abruptly, making it clear that he was going to stay right there, in the middle of the hallway until Castiel appeared.

Dick's smile faltered and Dean caught the glimpse of another crack in his smooth demeanor. "I'm afraid that isn't acceptable. You see, Castiel and I have a great deal of work to do today. It could take…all night."

Dean's shackles raised and he fought not to lose his temper.

_So that's how it was. This guy in the fancy suit with the fake smile wanted Cas._

_Dean's Cas._

"I'm afraid, Dick, that Castiel has already made plans with me for this evening."

Dick's eyes hardened, but, dammit-all, his smile stayed in place.

"My mistake. I assumed after I left his apartment _'last night_' that we would be meeting aga-"

Dean's punch landed square across the man's left jaw, sending him slamming hard into the wall.

Dean heard several screams of surprise and shouts as doors were thrown open all along the hallway. Someone yelled for security to be called.

Dick managed to recover, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. He produced a handkerchief, and, for just a moment, all Dean could think was 'Wow. People actually still carry those things?'.

But then Dick was smirking and Dean had a sinking feeling that the man had planned it. _All of it. The punch had been staged._

"Dean?!" Dean turned guiltily as a large crowd from the direction of the room down the hall all moved hastily for Castiel to pass. Dean's mouth nearly dropped. It was Cas, but…he looked different. His hair was slicked down neatly. His suit was of a much better quality than he usually wore, and Dean didn't even know much about suits. His polished shoes gleamed in the light from the many windows. He looked handsome, but…not like the Cas that Dean knew. Who was this man?

Castiel looked angrily from Dick to Dean, taking in the dripping blood and Dick's pained expression. His face settled into a stormy frown.

"What the hell is going on here?" He demanded, looking back and forth between the two men.

To Dean's surprise, Dick did not immediately begin sniveling and try to dime him out. He just patted tenderly at his bleeding mouth, not looking at Castiel.

Castiel's eyes fell on Dean and stayed. Dean could see the confusion and anger, but also a hint of something else deep in the blue. Fear. Just enough of a flicker to make Dean's heart stutter.

"Cas," He tried, his voice barely working for him, "I…I didn't mean to-"

The elevator dinged nearby and a six enormous security guards piled out walking directly over to Dean and grasping him roughly. Dean was tempted to push them off, but Castiel's deep eyes were still locked on his. He couldn't tear his own away, trying to communicate how sorry he was.

One spoke up, addressing Dick, "Sorry, sir. We responded as soon as we got the call. The cameras on this floor are, uh, apparently malfunctioning. How do you want to handle him?"

"You're not 'handling' anything. Let him go. Now." Castiel's voice boomed in the sudden silence, all eyes turning to him.

"I- I'm sorry Mr. Novak. But, you don't have the authority to issue those orders to us. This man assaulted a company executive. This is far above your pay grade."

A large majority of the audience standing around Castiel suddenly erupted into indignant shouts and orders, confusing the security team and making the main speaker look very nervous.

But, it was Dick's voice that cut through the the rest, clear and sharp with threat. "That's quite enough, everyone!" He settled a steely glare on the head guard. If Mr. Novak says to release that man then you had better do it. Now."

The security team not only released Dean, but gave him a solid five foot radius, their worried eyes shifting between Dick and Castiel. Dick dabbed one more time at his lip before calling out loudly, "Everyone, back to work! Move!"

The crowd scattered, darting back into the many rooms along the hall. The guards retreated into the elevator.

Jess, Anna and the other two women hurried back to their desks, but Castiel stopped them, "Ladies, please give us a few minutes." They nodded quickly and left the area.

"I want to know exactly what happened." Castiel ground out when they were finally alone.

Dean and Dick shifted once more under his glare. Neither spoke. Dean had never seen this side of Castiel before. He seemed significantly less adorable, and about a hundred times sexier. The new get-up didn't help. Furious looked _good_ on him. Too bad Dean was the focus of his anger.

"Fine." Castiel practically spat out when neither answered. "Dick- get back into the damn conference room." It seemed as though Dick hadn't expected the sudden dismissal. He began to open his mouth to speak when Castiel snapped, "I said go!"

Dick gave a curt nod, then walked away stiffly back down the hall.

Dean almost wished he hadn't left, bastard though he was.

_It left him alone._

_With a very hot, pissed off Cas._

For several moments they stood in silence. Castiel was clearly trying to reign in his temper. Dean wanted to say something, an apology- anything. But, he realized he was afraid.

_Afraid that Cas was going to yell at him._

_Hate him._

_Leave him to go to San Diego._

So he waited, heart pounding.

"What did he say to you?" Castiel eventually spoke, his voice more calm than when he had addressed Dick. He kept his eyes turned away from Dean.

Dean shrugged, unsure how to explain the other man's obvious baiting. "He said he was…with you last night...at your apartment." Dean finally mumbled. He watched as Castiel frowned deeper, then nodded in understanding. For a moment Dean was sure his heart stopped. He choked out, "He- he wasn't, _right_? Cas...?"

Castiel sighed and looked up at him finally. "He came over to my apartment last night, yes."

Dean gaped, not sure who he was more upset at, Dick or Castiel. "Wh-what do you mean 'he came to your god damn apartment', Cas?! Why the hell would that D-bag come over to your apartment at night? I thought he some fancy executive. What would he want with you?" He couldn't find the words to ask anything else. Like what they did together. But the thought was there, slamming furiously against the walls of Dean's mind, demanding to be answered.

Castiel sighed. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you already. He usually never misses a chance to brag." Dean was frozen as Castiel kept speaking, "Dick…He's my Ex, Dean. He came over last night because he doesn't want to break up. I turned him away at the door." He added.

Dean tried processing the information but it was slow work. The Grade 'A' jerk that had just intentionally riled him up was Castiel's old boyfriend. He had just punched Castiel's ex-boyfriend.

The bitter words slipped out without Dean even thinking, "If I'd known that, I would've gotten a few more punches in…"

He shut up as Castiel's eyes flared. "Dean, that is _not_ amusing. Do you realize how serious this is? Dick is one of the highest ranked members of this organization. He has the power and authority to make your life hell. You can't-" He tried to get himself back under control, "Dean, you can't just…come into my workplace and start _swinging_ at people…"He ended softly, exhaustion edging his voice.

Dean cringed at Castiel's words. He felt like a worthless sack of shit. He needed to go bury himself in a hole and die of shame.

_He had hurt Castiel. Embarrassed him in front of his entire office._

"Cas, I'm sorry. I…I just came over because…well, there are rumors…."

Castiel's eyes widened and he looked suddenly worried. "What rumors, Dean?"

"That you're leaving. Going to San Diego and may not be coming back." Dean looked away, his chest tightening just saying the words.

He waited for Castiel to deny them.

And kept waiting.

"Cas?"

"Dean, I-" he began, faltering. "Listen, things are…really up-in-the-air right now. It's going to get…tough. We might not be able to see each other as much as we would like. But, I'm not going anywhere. We…we're serious about being together…right?"

The note of doubt in his voice hit Dean like being doused in ice water. "Of course we're serious, Cas! Are you joking? What would make you think I wasn't serious about you?"

Castiel flinched and shook his head. "It's nothing. I just…" He ran his hands through his hair, messing up the slicked down strands. His deep blue eyes finally locked onto Dean's and stayed.

Dean couldn't help but grin softly..

There was _his_ Cas.

He had been hiding under that fancy suit and expensive looking haircut, after all.

Castiel looked around the nearly abandoned office with a frown before turning his blue eyes to Dean. "I have…a lot that I need to go over with you. I can't do it here. Are we…still on for tonight? My place?"

Dean smiled, and nodded, wanting desperately to pull Cas into a kiss and never let go. "Yeah, you can tell me what all is going on tonight, Cas." He beamed as Cas' face finally broke into a hopeful smile. "Bring it on."

He leaned forward, tugging gently at Castiel's tie to pull him into a kiss.

"Do you want me to add the meeting into your schedule for today, Mr. Novak?" The two men jerked apart as if they were burned.

Castiel spun around, face red. "Alfie? How-! I-I asked for some privacy!"

"Oh, sorry sir! You just said 'Ladies', so I figured you didn't mind me being here." His head leaned out from behind the computer desk, blinking innocently.

"I didn't even know you were there, Alfie! How do you keep _doing_ that?!"

"Sir?"

Castiel shook his head, and turned back to Dean, with a frustrated sigh. "Tonight?"

"Yeah, tonight." Dean grinned, taking Castiel's hand briefly to squeeze it gently.

…-^o^-…

Once Dean had departed into the elevator, Castiel turned to Alfie with a frown.

The guy seemed nice. He was certainly over-qualified and old to still be an intern.

Castiel sighed. He needed to return to the meeting. There had been too many interruptions today. If he kept this up, he'd never get home to meet Dean this evening.

A sudden thought struck him.

"Hey, Alfie?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Would you mind picking some items up at the grocery store for me?"

Castiel smiled to himself.

He owed Dean an apple pie.

* * *

Anyone else want to high-five Dean for knocking the shit out of Dick? (Raises hand)

Let me know how you all are feeling. Things are starting to escalate so fast!

Next up: How is Cas going to keep Dean safe?

And why is Lisa back?

What will Cas say when he finds out?

See you all next chapter!


	26. Chapter 26-REALITY-Population: Dean

Beta: InThePalmOfMyHand

A/N: Real quick- the Fireworks and Thunder chapter has a new, exciting scene added. (Hint: it's a Ferris Wheel!) Very cute and fun! You folks might want to duck back in and check it out! Thanks to Zoetat for suggesting it based off a great prompt that was floating around!

I want you all to know before reading this chapter that I have been planning this out since the very beginning. We've been working up to this point.

Please don't hate me.

* * *

'_This is not a good idea, Castiel. For the record, I do not approve.'_

Castiel tried not to cringe visibly as Michael's irritated voice carried into the room through the phone speakers. They were having a virtual tele-conference with the portion of the team that was holding down the fort in San Diego.

Dean had left almost an hour before. Dick was sitting sullenly at Castiel's left, still nursing his swollen jaw.

"I understand, Michael." So far, Michael had made it very clear that Castiel's decision to remain in Lawrence was an unacceptable risk, not to mention a huge burden on everyone.

Castiel fought the urge to submit to Michael's will. It had been ingrained in him for the last decade that Michael was his father's second-hand man. It was Michael who should be running the company in his father's absence. Michael was the one qualified to do it. In all seriousness, Castiel should have been heeding all advice the man gave.

But, that was not how it had worked out. By some insane or senile decision by his father, Castiel was the one responsible for the entire company.

A company that was riddled with spies and scandals.

'_Are you planning to ever return to San Diego? Or do we need to establish Lawrence as the new ADA Headquarters?'_ It was clear from his tone that he was being sarcastic. Even Castiel caught it.

"That's…I will have an answer for you tomorrow." Castiel stated.

_'Why tomorrow? Why not now? I don't know if you are aware of it, but the company is racing against the clock to stay afloat. We need to make your ascension to power known as soon as possible. We can't afford to waste time.'_ The rest of the team packed in the room shifted uncomfortably, not looking at Castiel.

He searched for the right words. "I plan to- to discuss the matter with my…" He paused, clenching his teeth. He wasn't sure who all knew about Dean. Or even if Michael had been briefed about the 'local boyfriend', as Naomi had put it. He wished there weren't so many people listening. But then, they were all a part of protecting his image, so if they weren't aware that he was gay, then they needed to get up to speed- fast. "I'm telling my boyfriend, Dean, this evening. My decision of whether to stay or leave is up to him. If he will…come with me to California or choose to stay here."

The awkward silence that filled the room hurt Castiel's burning ears.

'_…I see.'_ Came Michael's stony voice through the static of the phone. _'I'm sure we can all rest easy tonight, knowing that the handling of the company is being left to the whims of a mechanic.'_

In the gaping silence that followed Michael's words, the voice of Balthazar filled the line from the same end, his drawling british accent cheerful as he supplied, _'Easy now, Mikey. He's not just some mechanic. He's also in a band. The lead singer, in fact! Isn't that so, Cassie?'_

Castiel winced. He could practically feel Michael's silent fury spilling out of the phone connection. "Yes. Thanks, Balthazar…."

…-^o^-…

"Castiel!" Dick's voice rang out down the hallway. They had finally ended the tele-conference from Hell, and Castiel was making a quick escape to his office so he could take a few moments, undisturbed, to slam his head into the hard surface of his desk- not for the first time since he got the news of his 'promotion' yesterday morning.

He took several calming breaths, slowing down so Dick could catch up.

"Were you serious in there? Are you _actually_ going to leave all of this up to that-" Castiel snapped his head around to shoot Dick a glare. Whatever he had been about to call Dean died on his tongue. He rallied, "I'm just…I'm concerned, Castiel. Everyone is. Think about this rationally, from our point of view. You barely know this man! How can you leave the fate of the entire company in his hands? It's terrifying the hold he has over you! Don't you see why Michael and the rest of us are worried?"

His eyes were pleading, and his words silky and reasonable. Castiel tried to shake them off, turning to continue to his office. "I won't tell you again, Dick. Stay out of mine and Dean's relationship!"

Dick caught the door, glancing around before meeting Castiel's eye and whispering, "You're taking this too far, Castiel. Getting too attached this stranger. And for what? So you can have a pretty face to wake up to? Someone who will 'bottom' for you, for a change? Because, I've been thinking, I could reconsid-"

Castiel groaned in exasperation, shaking his head slowly, "Dean isn't even a 'bottom' Dick. And this isn't about his looks! Listen carefully, because I am not saying this again." He held Dick's gaze, "It's my decision whether or not to stay in Lawrence. If I want Dean to be a part of that decision, then that is none of your business."

He shut the door to his office firmly in Dick's face, cutting off the argument he was about to make.

…-^o^-...

Dick stared at the door that had just shut inches from his face. This was becoming a bad habit of Castiel's.

He probably picked it up hanging around that uncouth mechanic and his pack of bottom dwelling friends.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed a number.

After a few moments, the other line picked up.

"Do you have the information I asked for?" He asked quietly, eyeing Castiel's door and moving his gaze to the secretaries seated at their desks a few meters away. He took long strides across the hall to the privacy of the atrium area.

"Yes…Yes, I already know all that….Okay…. Hmm, that might work…Wha-? Wait, say that again… You are positive it's her?…." Dick stood stunned as the investigator on the other end of the line repeated the information again. He listened, frowning in disbelief at first.

Then his face split into a wide, shark-like grin.

"Give me the address where she is staying."

After a few moments of quick scribbling into a notepad, and another short exchange, Dick hung up his cell phone.

He collapsed into one of the available chairs, a flood of euphoria rushing through him.

_He had him. He definitely had Dean now._

_He just needed to play it out exactly right._

Dean Winchester's world was about to come crashing down around him. And Dick was going to make sure Castiel witnessed the full-scale of the disaster so he would finally come to realize what a huge mistake he had made by believing in the mechanic.

…-^o^-…

"Geez, Bobby! I'd like to get off sometime today, if that's okay with you. I gotta meet up with Cas tonight." Dean's whining voice filled the bay, earning whistles and cat-calls from the other mechanics.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to take an extended lunch break, you idjit!"

Dean grimaced. Bobby was right. Dean hadn't even thought to call the shop when he decided to storm into the ADA. By the time he made it back to work, Bobby had been waiting to give him an earful.

On top of that, Sam had left a stinging voice mail on Dean's phone. It pretty much said that if Dean ever did something so fucking stupid that jeopardized Jess's job again, that Sam was going to take a sledgehammer to the Impala.

Of course, he wasn't serious. Just a threat.

_…Probably._

Dean had no intention to find out, regardless.

None of the anger directed his way that afternoon could spoil his mood anyway. He was meeting up with Cas tonight. They were going to talk all of this out and fix whatever was bothering Cas and stressing him out. Then they were going to have crazy, barely-legal sex into the wee hours of the morning.

At least, if Dean had any say in the matter.

He grinned to himself, pulling out his phone for almost the twentieth time since returning from lunch. He re-read the text Cas had sent him a few hours ago.

**C: I should be out of the office by eight. Planning a special treat for you. Call me when you are on your way over.**

Dean smiled like an idiot at the phone. _A treat, huh?_ Dean was letting his imagination run rampant, the anticipation already making him hard.

"Hello again, Mr. Winchester."

Dean's smile dropped instantly, his hand clenching tightly around the phone. "Oh, hello again, _Prick_. Wasn't expecting to see you again so soon. How's the jaw?" He turned to meet the condescending smile of Dick Roman for the second time that day.

"Haha. I'm doing exceptionally well, Dean. Thank you for asking. I was hoping you and I could have a … little chat. Is there somewhere private we could speak?" His eyes trailed disdainfully over the squalor of the garage, before returning to smile smugly at Dean.

Dean fought back the urge to swing at the man again. Something about the rich bastard's smile really pissed him off.

Dean forced himself to smile back tightly and led him out of the bay, into the lot. He saw the rest of the crew watching them closely as they walked away. Benny sent Dean a quick head lift, silently asking if he wanted back-up. Dean gave one quick shake of his head. _He could handle this douche-bag alone._

"So, I'm guessing you aren't here to talk about pressing charges, Prick?" Dean asked nonchalantly, hopping up onto the hood of a wrecked sedan.

Dick smirked, making Dean feel a brief tinge of unease. "No, Mr. Winchester. I understand that you felt the need to 'lash out' in the heat of the moment. Consider it forgiven and forgotten." He strolled a few steps away, his back to Dean.

Dean waited, but after a few moments he asked in annoyance, "So? Why the fuck are you here?"

Dick turned and his face was innocent. "Well, I just wanted to get a feel for the man who won Castiel. He's a tough guy to get close to. How _did_ you manage it? And in such a short time, no less?"

Dean didn't feel like playing this 'jealous-ex' game, but the urge to put Dick into his place was too tempting. "Well, Prick. The thing is, me and Cas hit it off immediately. Didn't even have to work at it." He smiled cheerfully watching the other man closely. To his surprise, the jab did not seem to have any affect on his upbeat demeanor.

"Oh, come on, Dean. You can tell me. What, did you take him out for a nice dinner?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders confidently, "Nope. Just ordered a pizza. Went out for few burgers. Nothing fancy."

"Really? That's it? _Hmm_." Dick seemed to be thinking hard about Dean's words. "Well, that's quite a change. You see, when Castiel and I were together, we dined out at the very best restaurants- every day. He has a real passion for rare delicacies. I think his favorite dish was…_ah, yes_! It was Chef's Recommendation at Marvone's. Delicious plate- he insisted on going there constantly. A bit expensive, though. One hundred eighty dollars, I believe…" He trailed off, smiling to himself at the memory.

Dean tried not to let the shock show on his face.

_How much? For a plate?! Singular? It took practically a day, maybe two, of hard work for Dean to earn that much money._

Dean tried sound uncaring, "Huh? Too bad for you. You should've gotten him burgers and saved some cash, buddy. He loves those things." Dean grinned at the memories.

Dick's responding chuckle grated on Dean's nerves. "Yes, well. I'm sure it has been rough on him, adjusting to the meager fare of a small city like this. And not just food. Castiel and I had quite the nightlife, as well. He loved the opera- had to go every time they had a performance. Best seats in the house, of course. But, then, dating Castiel can get expensive, so I never thought twice about it." He sent Dean a sympathetic look. "Where have you found to take him around here?"

Dean was practically scowling at this point, but still replied with a sharp smile, "Oh, our activities tend to be centered around the bedroom, for the most part. Why bother leaving the apartment. You know what I mean?" He gave Dick a wink, a happy jolt shooting through him when the man's smile stiffened at the mention of having sex with Castiel.

"Yes. I'm sure you have been very preoccupied with the so-called 'honeymoon' phase." Dick's smile returned, more malicious than ever. "I suppose you haven't had much opportunity to really get to know him, then. Just the basics, I'm sure. Like his favorite color? You must know that by now."

Dean flinched and tried to hide it, but Dick's smile showed he caught the small tell. "Oh. _No_? Well, that's not very important anyway. I'm sure you've discussed everything else. Like his favorite books? And his plans for vacationing in Italy this year? At his family's properties just outside of Venice? _No_? Not even _that_?"

Dean was getting sick of this goading- fast. He jumped off the car, hands fisting at his sides. "Listen jackass, I get that you have a thing for Cas. Trust me, I can't fault you for that. But I have no problem faulting you for fucking up your chances with him. If I understood right, you got busted talking shit about him. Seems like all that textbook knowledge about him didn't cover the fact that he wouldn't put up with that bullshit, huh?"

All semblance of the calm façade had left Dick by this point. His eyes were dark as he snarled at Dean, "I may have made the mistake of losing Castiel, but that is irrelevant. I'll have him back in no time. Do you really think, Dean, that your little 'gay-trist' is going hold Castiel's attention for much longer?" Dean hissed at the man's words.

Dick ignored him, picking up momentum as he held Dean's eyes, "Castiel has just been named the head of the entire ADA."

Dean could only blink at the revelation. He didn't understand much about business. He wasn't even sure where Cas landed in the hierarchy of the ADA before now.

Did this really make such a big difference?

Rich was just…_rich_, right?

It wasn't like Cas would change with a little bit more money.

Hell, he had a million dollar painting hanging in his apartment like it was nothing. The guy was already wealthy.

And he chose to be with Dean anyway. So, it was no big deal, right?

Dick watched with a satisfied grin as Dean's eyes widened in shock. "Yes- Castiel is in charge now. Of a multi-billion dollar company. He's going to be the toast of every wealthy party across the entire _globe_, you pathetic moron. You really think he's planning to stay in the middle of 'Nowhere, Kansas' with a _penniless_, _straight_ repairman."

Dean forced his thoughts to calm as he met the man's eye with a mocking glare, ready to meet Dick on his own terms and start fighting dirty, too. "You think I'm the pathetic one here? Listen closely you desperate fuck-tard. Cas chose to date me 'knowing' that I am a broke mechanic. In fact, he's got a kink for the whole 'greasy coveralls' look. So, if you think that he's gonna take one look at his bank account and suddenly realize that he can't get hard for me because of my minimum wage, then you don't know him as well as you think."

Dick was almost frozen in anger as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. When he finally spoke, the words slid out with icy precision. "What I _think_, Mr. Winchester, is that you are not even gay." Dean scoffed at the suggestion, but Dick continued, "I _think_ that you have not even stopped to consider what being gay means for you and your 'Average Joe' life. I _think_ Castiel isn't going to put up for long with a straight boyfriend who refuses to 'bottom' for him. Hah! He barely tolerated that when he was with me- one of the few topics we disagreed on. I _think_ when you do come out of your haze of horniness and testosterone, back to reality, that you will agree with me. You are _not_ gay, Dean Winchester. You are having a few weeks of sexual deviance. And I know why."

The last statement was gritted out almost gleefully and Dean stiffened, the man's words already wiggling their way into the dark, insecure corners of his mind. "What the fuck and you talking about?" He managed to growl, stepping dangerously close to Dick's tall form.

"I know about all of it. Your little _proposal_. The months of pouting and pining for your 'girlfriend'. The one night stands and heavy drinking afterwards. I wonder how Castiel will take finding out that you are still in love with your 'would-be' fiancée? I'm guessing that never came up during the rare occasions when you stopped using him to get yourself off and actually _spoke._"

Dean had no idea what to say to the accusation. He stood stock-still, mouth hanging open uselessly.

_Oh, god. Dick was going to tell Cas about Lisa. About the proposal._

Dean sucked in air, his mind racing desperately, ignoring Dick's gloating smile in front of him. _It wasn't that he didn't want Castiel to know about it. He had always planned to tell him. He just didn't think there was a rush._

_But, he didn't want Cas to hear Dick's version of it. He wanted to explain it himself. Let him know that it was completely over. Lisa was in the past. She was going to stay there. Cas was his present. His future._

_He had to tell Cas about everything before Dick. If Dick had a chance, then he would obviously spin it against Dean. He would try to convince Castiel that Dean was just a straight man going through some 'post-rejection gay phase'. That he wasn't serious._

_And that, on top of everything else - the sudden change of status at work, the tough schedule, Dick's presence - it could ruin it all. Everything that they have._

Dean's hands shot out, grabbing Dick by his perfectly tailored suit and shoving him roughly against the side of a stack of cars. "You listen to me, you bastard! Lisa and me- we are done! She walked out of my life and, yeah, I was upset. But I've got Cas now. He is my damn 'boyfriend'. That means I _am_ gay. I don't give two flying fucks about who came before him or the fucking terminology for what we are. Nothing you say to him is going to change that!"

Dick was chuckling as Dean finished. He flicked his hands at where Dean was holding him, pushing him away and stepping out as he smoothed the wrinkles from his suit.

Dean watched him angrily, a small knot of worry working its way into his stomach.

"_Dean. Dean. Dean_." Dick shook his head, looking away as he smiled. "It's impressive, the lengths that you will go to lie to yourself." He began walking back to the open bay area.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, fucker?! Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" He followed Dick closely, trying to resist the urge to tackle the man and just start beating the high-holy-fuck out of him, even if doing so would upset Cas again.

But they had come back into view of the rest of the maintenance team, and more importantly, the customers. Dean let the rage writhe inside, fighting to keep it controlled before he made another scene.

He didn't hear Ash's warning call. Or notice the wide-eyed horror in everyone's eyes as they stood staring at him.

His attention was completely focused on Dick. When Dick finally turned, it was to whisper lowly to Dean. His smile was wider than ever- like he had just opened the best Christmas present in the world. "I think you should reconsider this absurd belief of yours that you are gay and that you and Castiel are going to stay together forever." His voice was too low to be heard by anyone else. Dean had to lean in just to catch the words. "After all, not many _gay_ men can say they have a child with a woman."

He turned his head with a smile and Dean followed his gaze to the front of the bay.

Lisa was standing there near the front office. She sent Dean a nervous smile and a small wave.

But his eyes were locked lower, on the unmistakable bulge of her belly.

A strong hand grasping his shoulder, pulled his numb mind back from the shock of the image in front of him. Dick's voice drifted over him like it was coming from miles away.

"I think it's time you returned to the real world, Mr. Winchester."

…((O_O))…

"Huh." Tessa murmured, gazing out the window of the diner. She turned with a soft smile to Ted, who was sitting silently with Chuck in his usual corner. "Looks like somebody stole your favorite bench, Ted."

The old man lifted his head to look out the window. He smiled gently. "Yes. So it appears."

Without another word, he stood and walked out of the diner. Chuck and Tessa followed with their eyes as he strolled down the street and finally took a seat next to the stranger in front of the cemetery.

"Do you think he knows him?" Tessa asked dumbfounded.

Chuck smiled sadly, turning back to his coffee. "Seems like it."

…((O_O))…

Gabriel was staring sadly at the stolen picture of Ruby's smiling face when someone sat down next to him.

He glanced over at the man, then back to his picture with a low huff.

After a short silence, Gabriel tucked the photo gently back into his jacket and spoke.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dad? The company is falling apart, you know?" He asked quietly.

"Yes. I know." The old man stated calmly, staring out at the people passing down the busy street. "I left you instructions. You were supposed to stay. Help save the company. You and Castiel."

His voice wasn't accusing, but Gabriel stiffened anyway. "That's what you wanted? For me and Cassie to run your damn company for you while you came to Sioux Falls and…and _moped_ over Mom's grave?" His voice cracked at the mention of his mother.

"You need to go back, Gabriel." The soft voice pressed. Gabriel's head snapped around to stare at his father angrily. "Your brother needs you."

Gabriel bit his lip, looking away. "Cassie is strong. He can handle this whole mess that you left behind. _He_ may not realize it, but he can."

His father smiled, and said carefully, "You can, too. You're both very strong. Resourceful."

Gabriel scowled. "Don't try to flatter me, Dad. It's your company. Your job. I came here to bring you back."

His father shook his head slowly, still smiling as he stared at the crowds. "No, Gabriel. You two have to do this alone." Gabriel was about to object angrily, when he stated, "Castiel is in danger."

Gabriel's mouth snapped shut. He blinked at his father for several moments. "What the hell do you mean 'in danger'. From _what_? And don't say Dick Roman, cause Cassie can kick that loser's ass, easy."

"Not from Mr. Roman, no. At least, I don't think he is a part of this. No, from the spies in the company." Gabriel's face contorted in confusion.

"Well, yeah, Dad. Technically we are all in danger from them."

His father sighed, and turned to his son, smiling sadly. "Yes, but Castiel has a very big weakness. He's too kind-hearted. He has something that they can exploit, doesn't he?" Gabriel frowned. His father continued, "It appears that the spies are aware of his new boyfriend. Tell me, Gabriel, do you think your brother can remain strong if the enemies threaten Dean Winchester?"

Gabriel's face paled and his mouth dropped open.

"Oh…_shit_." He cursed loudly, jumping to his feet.

Gabriel's father stared after him as he ran away quickly, presumably back to his brother's side.

After several peaceful minutes, the old man stood slowly and made his way back to the diner.

…((O_O))…

Dean knew he was going to puke.

It wasn't a question of 'if' so much as 'when'.

As soon as he had led Lisa into the small break room and locked the door, his shaky legs had given out on him. He barely managed to stumble to a nearby chair.

Now, he sat in the silence of the room, just his and Lisa's breaths filling it. His body felt cold and clammy.

"Dean…?"

His eyes lifted to lock on Lisa's and he asked with a trembling voice, "Is it…_mine_?"

Lisa stared at him for several moments that seemed to stretch into a millennia. Her beautiful, familiar face was like looking at childhood photographs.

Dean had so many great memories of her.

He knew every crease and line on her face. Knew that if he leaned forward toward her shining black hair he would catch a whiff of her sweet shampoo. Knew those big, brown eyes that were locked onto his.

He knew Lisa. And, God, he had _missed_ her.

It was like a sudden punch to the gut. Everything was coming back to him.

He had wanted to marry this woman. Had spent months with her, years before that as best friends. Lisa was a huge part of his life. Losing her had been like losing Bobby or Ellen or Benny. She had always been with him and beside him. They had spent hours tucked beside each other in bed, sharing secrets and fears, hopes and dreams.

He knew her intimately, just as she knew him.

So he spotted her face crumpling as soon as he asked the question. And she knew he saw it.

She abruptly burst into tears, hands flying to her face. For Dean, it was too much, too suddenly. He was out of his chair, wobbly legs forgotten instantly as he pulled her into a warm, tight hug on the old couch.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. Everything's fine, Lisa. It's all fine." He sat there holding her shaking, sobbing form for the longest time, whispering soothing words into her ear.

When her sobs and trembling finally died down, she spoke, her voice cracking. "I had…a _plan_. I had a _good plan_. I was ready. I knew exactly what I was going to say. Been…been practicing for months. I just…I just-" She erupted into more sobs, arms holding Dean tight like she was going to drown if he let go. "Please! Oh, please, _god_, Dean, don't hate me! Please say you won't hate me- no matter what! Please!"

Dean patted her back as she hiccuped. The fear and desperation in her voice almost stopped his breathing. His chest was tight, heart beating fast. "Lisa, hey. I could never hate you. You know that. I'll never, ever hate you. Just…talk to me, okay? Tell me everything."

This just made Lisa even more upset. Her red-rimmed, brown eyes found Dean's and she held his gaze, trying to gasp in air to speak through her sobs. "I- Oh, Dean! I was going to _lie._ I was…I was going to tell you- tell everyone it was…that it was yours!"

She choked as she leaned into his chest, and for the first time since seeing Lisa standing pregnant by the garage, he breathed in deeply with relief. And maybe something that felt like regret…?

"Lisa, you gotta calm down. Okay? I'm right here. I'm ready to listen. Just, _breath_ alright?"

It took several minutes before she calmed down enough to speak without bursting into tears again. Dean listened in silence as she explained her last few months to him.

"I went to my sisters, after I…when I left. I didn't even really pack, you know. Just grabbed a few things and hit the road. Made it to her place in eight hours. I was…Dean, I was so upset with you. I was angry. I wanted…I wanted you to love me. Really love me. Like I- Like I love you. And you didn't." Dean shifted, about to speak, but she stopped him. "No. Don't. I know. Dean, I always knew you didn't love me like I loved you. I just…I just wanted it so bad…."

She paused, eyes staring at nothing, while Dean's hand rubbed gently up and down her arm.

"I forgot my pills." She suddenly let out a humorless laugh, then followed it with a sob and a fresh set of tears. "I forgot my damn birth control pills in your damn bathroom cabinet. But, I was so angry… _Dean-_" She looked up meeting his eyes again and whispered, "What am I going to do, Dean…?"

_He didn't have an answer. Hell, he couldn't even wrap his mind around any of this yet. It was surreal. He had known Lisa for so many years. The fact that she was pregnant was just mind-blowing. How was it possible that Lisa was going to have a baby? Give life to a person?_

He stared at her large belly, trying to comprehend the concept of pregnancy and birth. He had never really known a pregnant person before. He tended to steer clear of them when he saw them at the store or anywhere around.

After several moments, he let the words fall out. "Who is the dad?"

It seemed like Lisa wasn't going to answer him, but she finally began speaking, as if the words hurt her physically to say.

"Some punk biker guy. I went…a little crazy for a while there. Didn't care about anything. Just wanted to…forget _you_. Didn't care with who. He was the first guy I could find. Had on a Nickleback T-shirt." Dean cringed at the words, but she kept speaking. "When I found out I was pregnant, I confronted him. He was…" She looked like she was about to start sobbing again at the memory, but Dean pulled her close, resting his head against hers. She took more deep breaths and continued. "He was pissed off. A real bastard about it all. Wouldn't own up to it being his baby. Called me…hateful names."

Dean felt anger coiling in his gut as she spoke. This motherfucker had used Lisa- his sweet, loving Lisa- and then threw her to the curb like she was garbage. Not just her, but his own baby, too. What kind of sick fuck could look at Lisa, see how beautiful and kind she was, know that she was carrying his child- and not care?

"I kept confronting him about it. I couldn't drop it. Went to his house. His work. His parent's house. Tried to talk to him. He finally…he finally said he'd marry me. Apologized for everything. Said he was just scared and he wanted to be with me and the baby." She stopped there and Dean waited.

When she didn't immediately continue, Dean filled in the next part. "Jo, uh, told us…about the engagement. We didn't- I didn't know about the baby. Or the circumstances."

Lisa nodded weakly, swallowing as she swiped away more tears. "He- He changed his mind. A few weeks ago. Came to me with cash. Hundreds of dollars…. Oh, Dean! He...he wanted me to _abort_ it."

Dean stiffened and growled out a low string of curse words. "Give me his name and address." Dean rose to his feet, pacing in a rage, the words streaming from him almost continuously. "I'll _kill_ him. Tell me the fucker's name, Lis. Sick fuck doesn't want his own kid. Fucking _Asshole_. I'll beat the shit out of him!"

"Dean, it's…" She shook her head sadly, her eyes gentle on his face. "It doesn't matter now. He was…he was just _awful_, Dean." She leaned forward, holding her head in her hands. Her muffled voice continued. "I don't…I don't want that man in my life. In my baby's life! He said if I didn't abort it then I- I had better not expect him to pay child support." She laughed hard into her hands."

She raised her head, brown eyes meeting his as she begged helplessly, "That's…that's why I came back here. Dean, I…I don't want my baby to know it wasn't wanted. I- I want my baby to have a _father_. A _good father_."

…((O_O))…

Castiel grabbed his coat and briefcase, tossing in a few important documents that he needed to look over tonight.

_Not likely,_ he thought with a smile.

He had plans for tonight. Plans that involved pie and a certain green-eyed mechanic that had secret kink for hair pulling.

_So, big plans._

He hurried from his office, prepared to escape from the building and get home earlier than planned. He needed to make the pie. Then it would take time to bake. And to cool off.

The sudden image of licking warm pie of Dean's abs hit Castiel hard, his pants tightening painfully. He sucked in a deep breath, moving faster.

He had just shut the door to his office, and turned to sprint for the elevator, when he noticed Charlie still at her desk. The lamp beside her on the table was one of the only lights still on in the office.

He slowed to stand in front of her. "Charlie? It's seven o'clock- why haven't you left for the day?"

Charlie gave him a small smile, and shrugged nervously, "Uh, just, you know- wanted to get some more work knocked out. Alfie had a lot, so I figured I would help him. You know, that guy is like, _freakishly_ efficient. Some of the work he has to do is heavy-duty stuff! I mean, he has his hands in _everything_! I don't know how an intern can manage this much high-level paperwork! And when I asked him about it, he was all like, '_It's a huge pleasure and honor to be entrusted with such important duties_'. Just like that! Talk about grateful for having a job! But, I totally get it- I mean, keeping a job in this economy? Don't get me started on some of the places I've been stuck working-"

She would have continued her rambling, but Castiel cut in, "Charlie, is…is this about Ruby?"

Charlie wouldn't look up at him. She shifted some paperwork pointlessly, before answering quietly, "Ruby? Oh, no. Nope. What made you think of her? No, I am one-hundred percent not threatened by the fact that you have been assigned an extra secretary. I mean, come on. Why would I be? Gabriel has got, like, _exclusive claim_ on her anyway. He's…uh, he's coming back to get her soon, isn't he?"

Castiel frowned at the question. Finally, he walked around her desk, borrowing Anna's chair and pulling it over to sit by Charlie.

"Charlie. I'm sorry about all of this confusion and secrecy." He searched for a safe way to explain all of this to her. "It's…well, it's very complicated and I'm not sure I understand it all, myself. But, I'm going to do my best to look out for you until it is all settled, okay?"

Charlie nodded, her eyes finally moving to meet Castiel's. She looked sad, and it nearly made Castiel start dumping everything that had happened over the last few days on her. He needed someone to confide in. It seemed like forever since he and Charlie had been sitting in these same spots, eating their lunches and brainstorming about how to arrange the best Think Tanks possible.

He decided to change the subject, instead. "How are you and Gilda doing? Beat up any more, ah, _dwarfs_ lately?"

Charlie's face relaxed into a smile. "We're doing great. We actually had another date Saturday. Things are getting pretty intense, you know?" She winked suggestively.

Castiel almost asked her how intense things could possibly get in a virtual world, but Charlie suddenly piped up, "How about you and Dean? Word on the street is he practically has a toothbrush at your place already. Moving fast, huh?" She nudged him with her elbow as he blushed.

"People sure do like to talk around here, don't they?" He sputtered, trying not to show how happy he was.

"They don't have to talk very loudly, that's for sure! We all had front row seats to that super-sexy lover's brawl today. Don't tell me you weren't more than a little turned on that Dean punched your Ex? _Please, please, please_ tell me it was because he was defending your honor!" When Castiel blushed harder she practically squealed with delight. "Oh my God! That is so fucking adorable! You better be seeing him tonight! You should totally offer to put an ice pack on his poor, bruised knuckles while _chastising_ him" She made the word sound extremely lewd as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Charlie, that's not how it works in real life. Dean should never have let Dick get to him. It was grossly inappropriate."

"Well, then you should do something '_grossly inappropriate_' to Dean tonight. You know, fight fire with fire!" She erupted into more laughter at Castiel's disapproving frown, but he ended up cracking and they both laughed together, the sounds echoing down the dark hallways of the office.

After Castiel managed to get his chuckling back under control, he stood to say good-bye. "I need to get home soon, actually. I have a surprise planned for him and I need to get it ready. I'll see you tomorrow, Charlie."

"Yep, have a good night, boss! I expect you to come limping in here tomorrow morning, like you did Monday!"

Castiel's jaw dropped and his face turned the shade of a tomato as he dove into the elevator.

…((O_O))…

"Dean…? Dean, come on. You need to stop. You've had enough." Sam tried to pulled the bottle from Dean's hand, but he wouldn't let go.

Benny, Garth, Jo, and the rest of their tight group of friends stood a short distance from the table, casting worried glances between each other.

"Dean, _hey_? Listen, we need to talk this out, okay? Everything is going to be fine. Just talk to us." Sam gripped his brother's arm, trying to pull his attention from the scarred surface of the table where Dean had been staring for the last four hours.

He was past drunken stupor.

No one had warned the Road House staff about what had happened in the auto shop, so when Dean had appeared and began ordering drinks, they hadn't bothered to keep count.

He had drank _a lot_ before they found him.

"Dean, honey?" Ellen sat down beside him, arm over his shoulder as she leaned in close. "This isn't how you handle things, okay? You need to stop drinking and sober up. We are all right here. We can talk about Lisa. And the baby."

Dean suddenly pitched forward into the table.

After a few stunned seconds, Ellen lifted his head and checked him. "He's out." She announced.

The rest of the group sighed as they shook their heads sadly.

Sam moved forward, lifting Dean's arm over his shoulder. Benny stepped forward and took the other. They half-carried, half-dragged Dean down the hall into the kitchen area. Jo and Ash came in behind them carrying several blankets, and together they set up a small padded area for Dean to sleep.

When they emerged from the back, the group took their seats together.

Sam was the first to speak. "What the hell happened? I don't…I don't understand any of this." His voice was tired. It was late. They had been sitting with Dean trying to coax him into speaking and all they could get from him was, "_'M gonna be a daddy_."

Benny answered, "Some _suit_ showed up at the garage this afternoon. He and Dean went out back to talk. While they were back there Lisa showed up. _Very pregnant_. Said she was told Dean would talk to her and that he wanted her to meet him there. Then Dean and the suit came back and…." Benny shrugged, "The suit ducked out with a shit-eating grin on his face. Dean and Lisa went into the break room. When Dean came out, he went straight to the Impala and left. Lisa wouldn't say what they talked about, but…uh, seems pretty clear. We…well, we thought Dean was heading _home_. You know, to- to think it all out. Didn't know he was coming _here_…"

Everyone listened closely. There was a deep silence from the group, a hole of nothingness in the corner of the otherwise loud and crowded bar.

"She…she had no right to spring that on him so suddenly." Garth muttered. "He- he has Castiel now. That's not fair."

"Garth, she…she doesn't know. About Castiel. Or any of… _that_." Jo whispered.

"You knew about this, didn't you? That Lisa was back. And pregnant. You've kept in touch with her." The accusation from Sam cracked like a whip in the silence. Jo paled, her eyes watering as she looked down.

"Hey! This is not her fault, Sam." Ellen's voice was sharp, but not angry. "Now, if Lisa is carrying Dean's baby- which nobody seems to have confirmed yet- then those two got themselves into this. No one else. I know it's not easy to hear, but they will need to work this out themselves. We can't go around making these decisions for them."

The group nodded slowly. Sam murmured, "But, what about Castiel? Dean's been…so _happy_." He let the statement trail off as the rest of the group sat in silence, thinking.

…((O_O))…

It was 11:30pm.

Castiel sat on his couch, Lucifer sleeping in his lap, while he stared into the kitchen where a fresh apple pie sat cooling on the counter.

He checked his phone for the third time in the last five minutes.

_Nothing_.

He had already called Dean three times, the phone ringing before going to voicemail.

He had texted twice. No response.

_Where are you Dean?_ Castiel thought in the silence of his apartment.

…((O_O))…

"He's gone!"

Ash burst from the back hallway into the almost empty bar. Several heads shot up from where they were talking tiredly.

Sam jumped to his feet. "What do you mean he's gone?!" He didn't wait for her answer as he raced back into the kitchen.

Sure enough, Dean's place on the floor was empty.

_Shit. Oh, shit._

Sam ran back out to the rest, shaking his head. To his left, Benny appeared yelling across the bar from the door. "The Impala's still there!"

"Shit!" Sam swore, "Did he get a cab? Could he have gone to Lisa's?" He turned to Jo, who raised her hands helplessly. "I- I don't know, Sam. Maybe she told him where she was staying. It's possible."

Sam ran his hands through his long hair in frustration. "He's too fucking drunk to be wandering around after such big news. We need to find him before he does something stupid! Alright! Ash and Garth- check around here. Try outside, too. Maybe he's just passed out looking for the bathroom. Benny- check our place." He took his keys out, removing one and tossing it across to Benny. "Jo, you and me are going to Lisa's. I'll keep trying to to call him on his cell. Let's go!"

The group split up, darting into action.

…((O_O))…

Castiel awoke in his bed to the sound of his doorbell.

Without even thinking, he was on his feet hurrying to answer it. A quick check of the peep hole confirmed his suspicions.

_Dean_.

His hands fumbled as he quickly unlocked the door, throwing it open excitedly.

"Dean! I waited all night. What took you-"

His words were abruptly cut short by Dean surging forward, wrapping his arms around Castiel in a deep embrace. The strong smell of alcohol was all over him, and he swayed unsteadily in Castiel's arms.

"Dean? Are you- _whoa_! Careful." Dean stumbled dangerously as he suddenly began lurching in the direction of the bedroom, pulling Castiel along with him. "Dean, wait, okay. Just hold on. Let me shut the door." Castiel tried to shake loose from Dean's warm arms unsuccessfully, so he was forced to pull the heavy man along with him as he shut and locked his door. As he turned back and started moving toward the bedroom, Dean's hot mouth found his neck, latching on and nipping softly but insistently. Castiel laughed quietly, half-carrying Dean into his room. "Had a bit to drink this evening?"

Dean just hummed, smiling as they both flopped onto the soft mattress. Castiel shifted, pulling Dean's stiff limbs up onto the bed to make him comfortable.

After several minutes he finally had Dean arranged properly and his shoes and jacket removed. Dean rolled into him, pulling him down into another warm hug, nuzzling his neck and hair. "_Mmmm…smell good…_"

Castiel laughed. "Well, I'm glad you came over. I guess it's better late than never. Do you want to tell me why you finally showed up drunk at my apartment at," He looked at his watch, "Three o'clock in the morning?" He ran his hand through the soft fuzz of Dean's hair soothingly.

_"Mmm. Came ta…ta- gotta breakup. 'M not gay, Cassss."_ Dean wiggled closer into Castiel's arms as the other man froze, breath hitching.

"…What? Dean-?" Castiel pulled away slowly, causing Dean to groan and try to to pull him back. "Dean, wh-what did you say?"

_"Mmm, said… gotta breakup. 'M gonna be a daddy, Casss. Gonna marry Lisa and be…be a good daddy."_

Castiel could feel his heart stuttering painfully in his chest, seeming loud in the silence of the room. He pushed himself out of Dean's arms, bringing his hands up to both sides of Dean's frowning face. "Dean, you're- you're drunk. You aren't making sense, okay? I- I'll get you some water…"

He moved to stand but Dean suddenly sat up, grabbing Castiel back into his arms with giddy chuckle._ "M' gonna be a daddy, Casss. Lisa's- 's pregnant. Gonna get married…"_

Castiel pushed against Dean roughly, trying to get some distance from him. He stood at the side of the bed, looking down in the shadowed darkness of the bedroom. He could see Dean's happy face blinking slowly up at him as he bobbed unsteadily.

"Dean…are you, are you serious? Is Lisa…-" He couldn't get the words out, choking as he tried.

This couldn't be happening. He was drunk. Confused. It wasn't possible….

The faint sound of buzzing filled the tense silence. Dean collapsed into the pillows with another groan, mumbling,_ "Stahp calling Sammieeee…."_

Castiel moved forward carefully, avoiding getting pulled back onto the bed by Dean. He reached into Dean's back pocket, pulling out his vibrating phone. The caller ID said Sammy.

Castiel stepped across the room and out, shutting the door behind him with a gentle click.

He tried speak, to answer, but his voice failed him.

_'Dean? Dean are you there? Where the hell are you, man?!'_

"…Sam." Castiel managed to croak.

_'…Castiel?'_

"Yeah. It's me." He heard Sam curse lowly on the other end of the line.

_'Is…is Dean with you?'_

"…Yeah."

_'Shit. Did he- has he said…anything to you?_'

"Yeah." Castiel replied weakly, leaning his back against the cool wall of the living room. The feeling of tiny pin-pricks pulling at his pant leg indicated Lucifer was at his feet. "Sam, he-. He said that…Lisa…"

_'I'm going to come pick him up, okay? Don't worry about anything. Just- just tell me where you live and I'll be there in a few minutes, alright? Castiel?'_

"Is it true, Sam…?"

_'Castiel...it's- I don't-. They said…they said a guy in a suit came by the shop and…then Lisa. I- I can't talk about this with you, man. Just-'_

"Is she really pregnant…with Dean's…?"

There was a silence on the line.

Castiel felt his stomach tightening painfully, his throat closing, preventing him from breathing. His legs gave out and he slid in a heap down the wall into the cold floor.

_'Listen- tell me where you live, Cast-'_ Sam's voice cut out as Castiel hung up on him.

His shaking hand holding the phone dropped to his side. After a few moments it began buzzing again.

Castiel ignored it.

Lucifer climbed up his legs and chest, sniffing his mouth before leaning in to start pulling and chewing at his hair. Castiel didn't care.

After a few minutes on the cold, hardwood floor, Castiel rose, holding on to the wall for balance. His shaky legs carried him back into the bedroom. Dean's form was stretched out across the bed, his breathing deep and steady.

Castiel sat Dean's phone on top of his jacket, then picked up his own from the nightstand.

He stepped back out into the living room, staring at the phone. Finally, he dialed a number and waited.

Dick's muffled voice picked up almost immediately. _'...Castiel? It's la-'_

"What the _fuck_ have you done, Dick?" His voice was low, and angry.

_'…what I **had** to do.'_

"You- you son of a-"

_'Don't put all of this on me, Castiel!' Dick's voice was low, filled with unrepentant fury. 'He's the one that knocked her up. Not me. Did you know he proposed to her? Did he tell you about that? He asked her to marry him, Castiel- months ago! Before he even met you!' Castiel sat heavily onto the couch, eyes shutting as Dick's voice continued, 'He's the one who wanted to start a family and live happily ever after! Now he- well, he has his chance….'_

Castiel didn't have anything to say. He let the knowledge wash over him in the empty living room.

_'…Castiel, he-' Dick's voice was suddenly softer, almost sad. "He was never going to stay with you. I tried to tell yo-'_

Castiel hung up.

…(p_q)...

He wasn't sure how much time passed, with him sitting stone-still on the couch. Lucifer was curled in his lap, breathing gently.

When he finally stood, he walked to the bedroom silently.

He opened the closet, stripping off his pajama pants and dressing in one of his new suits.

He pulled out a large suitcase from the bottom of the closet and packed, careful not to make enough noise to wake Dean, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

Castiel couldn't even look at the man. It hurt just being this close.

He stepped back out into the living room, suitcase rolling behind him, as the first signs of dawn began to show outside his large windows.

He scribbled a short note onto a piece of paper, then folded it and wrote Dean's name on the front. He taped it to the inside of the front door, where it couldn't be missed.

Then, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Naomi's number. She picked up after several rings.

_'Sir?_' Her voice was tired, but still as efficient as ever.

"Have the private jet gassed up and ready to go immediately. Call Charlie and let her know to send all the paperwork and documents from my office to Head Quarters. I'm going straight over to the airport. You and Ruby meet me there as soon as you both can be ready." He bit out the orders with a cold efficiency.

_'Oh…I- Yes, sir. I'll make the preparations to leave right away.'_

"Do _not_ notify Mr. Roman that we are leaving yet. I don't want him on our flight. He can damn-well fly commercial." Castiel ground the words out bitterly.

Lucifer was awake again, attempting to climb Castiel's leg as he moved over to the front door. Castiel bent looked down at him. Slowly, he reached down and picked the small cat up, bringing it in closely to his face. He held him close for several seconds, saying a dozen silent apologies to the animal in his head.

He finally continued, his voice tinged with sadness, "I'm also going to need you to make a call to the local rescue, too. I'll discuss it with you more once we meet up."

_'…Yes, sir.'_

Castiel planted one final kiss on the top of the kitten's warm head, then sat him down gently on the floor. He muttered quietly to little creature, "I-I told you I couldn't keep you, buddy. You'll be fine though…. I'll make sure."

His eyes moved up unwillingly to stare at the closed bedroom door down the hall.

He stood there, in the doorway for several more moments while Naomi explained the preparations she was making.

Castiel wasn't listening. He just stared blankly at the door.

_Maybe, if Dean came out right then…maybe he would stop him._

_Tell him it was all a mistake._

_Or a bad joke._

_That he didn't really want to breakup._

_That he loved him._

But, the door stayed closed.

Castiel spoke into the phone, "I want to be out of Lawrence, Kansas by sunrise, Naomi. Make it happen."

…(p_q)…

Castiel was just walking across the tarmac to board the small plane in the early light of morning when he noticed people's heads turning.

His gaze followed theirs, and he spotted Charlie's slim form, weighted down with a small rolling suitcase and and a heavy looking computer satchel, sprinting at full speed towards the plane. Several security guards were chasing closely after her, shouting loudly and yelling into radios.

Castiel quickly shouted for them to stop, signaling the security boss nearby to call the men off.

Charlie continued running toward the him, where and several others stood. She didn't stop until she was right in front of him. Her breath was ragged and she pitched forward gasping for air.

"Charlie…" Castiel said quietly, watching the young woman sadly.

"Boss-! I- please, please let me go with you!" She choked for a second and sucked in air desperately. "Please, boss, I- I really like working with you. You're, like, the coolest, most awesome boss I've ever had! _Please_ don't leave me here. I can help. I don't know what's going on, but I promise, I can definitely help!" Her eyes met his, pleading.

"Charlie, things are going to be… difficult in San Diego. You have a life here. I…I can't ask you to give it all up."

She straightened, patting her laptop satchel, "But- but all I need is Gilda, boss! And I can take her with me anywhere." She whispered desperately. "_Please_, boss…."

Castiel turned to glance at Naomi, who was watching the exchange a few feet away with Ruby.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I just don't think that you need another-"

"I want her to come." There was stunned silence. All eyes fell on Ruby, who had been almost alarmingly quiet and unsociable since Gabriel's escape.

Charlie blinked in surprise as Ruby gave her a quick, appraising look up and down. "She's tough. I could use her help when this mess explodes." She turned to Naomi, addressing her with a quick nod. "She can handle it, ma'am."

Naomi returned her nod solemnly, then turned to Charlie with a small smile. "Very well, Ms. Bradbury."

Charlie's face split into a wide grin as she followed them onto the plane.

Only a few short minutes later, they were up and in the air.

Castiel stared out the small window as Lawrence fell away beneath them.

_Somewhere down there, Dean was sleeping peacefully in Castiel's bed as he flew farther and farther away._

_Incredible to think that one man, in one small city in Kansas seemed so much larger than life._

_He had almost given everything up._

_Almost let the fate of his father's entire company rest in one man's hands._

_He turned back to the important paperwork laid out in front of him._

_Not anymore. Now he could focus on what was really important._

_The company was on the verge of disaster. His family had all left. And thousands of people were depending on him._

_It was time to step up, and leave Dean and Kansas behind him._

* * *

I have...nothing. Group hug?

Next up: Good question.

How is Dean going to handle this sudden twist?

And Castiel?

And Lucifer, the poor little orphan that nobody wants?

Gabriel's en route (I hope), and Castiel is heading into the lion's den. Daddy-Novak says the bad guys know about Dean.

And Dick? Well, Dick's probably going to be stuck in economy seating on a jetliner, between a screaming baby and a fangirl who wont shut up the entire (delayed) flight about her homo-erotic fanfiction and all the wonderful reviews she's been getting from people. And that's just _perfect_...


	27. Chapter 27-Breaking News

Beta: InThePalmOfMyHand

Wow! So many great reviews! I read every single one several times, trying to gauge what you thought of the last chapter! I love hearing all of your thoughts and feelings! I sensed a *tiny* bit of anger that our boys got separated. Haha! It's a blast playing with you folks' heart-strings! Don't worry, we are not going to be diving into any 'angsty-depths' with this story, just good old intrigue and drama.

I know it looks pretty bad right now, but stick with me! We're going to get through this. I'm glad you are all enjoying the emotional roller-coaster. Keep reviewing so I can hear what you think about it all! (Your reviews play a pretty big role in how I write up the following chapters.) And those of you who haven't had a chance to review yet- don't be shy! I'd love to hear from you all, even if it's just an upset emoticon.

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel's plane arrived in San Diego by mid-morning.

A sleek limousine and several security cars were waiting for him as he exited the small plane. Michael's tall form stepped out from the limo, his face serious.

Castiel and his three secretaries approached the man as their luggage was removed and loaded into the vehicles.

"So? Where is this 'lead-singer-mechanic' I've heard so much about?" Michael's voice drawled as he eyed Castiel with a condescending glare.

Castiel breezed by without bothering to so much as glance at him. "Prepare the PR team to make a public statement of my new position by noon," he ordered. The chauffeur hurriedly opened the limo door for him as he stooped and entered the vehicle.

Michael's mouth moved uselessly as he blinked at the door to the limo and then over to Naomi.

Naomi purposely avoided his eyes, her mouth quirking into the hint of a smile as she and the other two women followed Castiel into the vehicle.

Michael was left standing dumbly beside the limousine, trying to regain his composure.

Castiel's sharp voice snapped from the inside of the car, "You're holding us up, Michael. Get in or I'll leave you here."

Michael's back straightened at the order, but he found himself moving quickly to obey.

…-^o^-…

Dean's head ached painfully as the sounds of thudding and muted voices pulled him from his deep sleep.

He rolled over, his head nestling deep into the soft pillows around him. He breathed in deeply, inhaling the comforting scent of Castiel.

He groaned loudly, stretching his tight muscles out across the wide bed. His arms groped out, searching for the familiar warmth of Castiel's body beside him.

They kept reaching, finding only cool sheets.

Dean pulled his pounding head up from the where it was buried, and he forced his heavy eyes to open. He squinted blearily in the brightness of the late morning light.

The bed was empty.

He breathed deeply, allowing his head to fall forward as it gave another painful ache.

_Ughh. What the fuck…?_

Dean lay quietly for several confused moments, listening to the dull noises coming from outside the bedroom door..

_What the heck is he up to out there? He wondered. From the sound of it, he was rearranging the entire living room with the TV playing._

Dean tried to think what had happened the evening before, as his sleep muddled mind began to finally work.

_How was he at Castiel's apartment? And why was he so fucking hung over?_

His mind began to fill in the blanks. Suddenly Lisa's sad brown eyes flashed before him.

_Holy SHIT!_ Dean sat bolt upright as the memories crashed into him, wave after wave of the prior afternoon cresting through his throbbing mind.

_Shit! Shit shit shit! Why…?! Why am I here! How the fuck did I get to Castiel's place?_

He sat up, sore muscles protesting as he desperately tried to recall how he ended up in Castiel's bed.

He remembered the Road House. And everyone's worried faces. Sam was trying to talk to him. Then…

It was all a huge blur. He had taken a cab, made it to Cas's apartment, talking the man's ear off as he slurrily relayed his romantic woes the whole ride. The cabbie had been very sympathetic, even helping to carry Dean up to the door of Castiel's apartment. _Fuck- did he even pay the fair?_ Then, he remembered Castiel's warm, smiling face, and hugging the man as he stumbled to get to the bedroom….

Then…?

_Oh…shit._ Dean suddenly remembered speaking. _He had told Castiel about…fuck! About practically everything!_

_About Lisa. About the baby._

_He had…he had came over to break up with him…. He had said that._

_To Cas._

Dean sat frozen, the only movement being and occasional tremor of fear and gasps of shaky breath as he stared unseeing at the sheets in front of him, all the memories ganging up on him increasing the painful throbbing of his head.

_He had told Cas he was breaking up with him._

He could remember it- Castiel's face in the dim light of the room. The torn look as the man stared down at him, eyes wide at the admission.

_Fuck._

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! _Dean thumped the mattress with his fist.

He pulled his head down into his hands, gripping his hair tightly. He tried to breath and think clearly.

_He had told Lisa he would do it._

_He had told her he would be the father._

_Keep it a secret._

_Lie to everyone._

_The look on her face when he had said it…the way all the sadness and the worry and the tension had fallen away from her._

_It was right._

_Lisa was Dean's. She was always going to be Dean's. Her baby was always going to be Dean's._

_They belonged together._

_It was the right choice, he insisted to himself._

The flash of Castiel's blue eyes and bright smile appeared suddenly in Dean's mind. It was immediately followed by the memory of the man's face last night. The shock and hurt.

Dean swallowed thickly.

_Shit…._

There was more thumps and sounds from the living room. Dean slowly shifted to the edge of the bed, the small movement increasing the ache in his head.

_What was he going to tell him?_

_'Sorry, but my ex is back and I'm just gonna pick back up where we left off.'_

_'You know, I hadn't really thought about it, but two guys can't make a baby, huh?'_

_'Sorry, Cas. But, I always kind of had a dream about marrying Lisa and having a crap-ton of kids, so…?'_

Dean groaned into his hands, terrified about how he was going to explain this.

_Should he explain to Cas that the baby wasn't actually his? Explain that he still wanted to raise it? Tell him how perfect Lisa is and how the two of them were going to make great parents?_

He had to find some way to explain all of this.

Cas deserved…he deserved to know why Dean couldn't stay with him. _No matter how much he wanted to._

Dean groaned loudly, fisting his hair in his hands again. _That arrogant bastard, Dick had been right after all._

_Dean wasn't thinking clearly about all of this, he and Cas._

_Dean wasn't gay._

_He loved Lisa._

_He wanted a family._

_All it took was her coming back. Her wanting him back. Her wanting him at her side, to help raise the child she carried… together._

_To live the dream he had always pictured._

The image of Cas appeared again, smiling gently as fireworks lit up his face. Leaning forward, eyes locked on Dean's, to plant warm kisses on his lips.

_Oh, fuck my life, Dean thought, his chest squeezing painfully._

He couldn't leave Cas!

It was _Cas_, for god's sake! He was…he was fucking _perfect_.

No- he needed to talk to Cas. He couldn't just give up on their relationship. There had to be a way! A way for everything to work out without losing Cas.

Dean jumped hurriedly out of the bed, rushing to the door.

_It wasn't too late! They could talk this out. Come up with a plan together._

_Dean could explain about Lisa._

_They could all find a way to work this out, together. A way for everyone to be happy._

_A way for Dean to keep Cas, and still be there for Lisa and the baby._

He threw the door open, taking a deep breath.

_Yes, they could do this._

…-^o^-…

"Get the catnip, Karen. We're going to have to lure him down."

Dean stared in confusion at the scene in front of him.

There were several women in Cas's living room. Many were holding Lucifer's cat toys, wiggling them up at him where he was perched high up in his alcove. He looked perfectly comfortable, enjoying the entertainment unfolding below him.

Dean recognized a few of the faces. They were the women from the pet store. The cat ladies that Cas had worked with at the adoption events.

Cas was no where in sight.

"Uh," Dean rasped, "Where's Cas?"

All of the women turned to stare at him in surprise. After several seconds they turned to look at each other. One woman, who looked vaguely familiar, finally answered, "He's gone. Moving to San Diego, I think it was."

Dean's aching head tried to process the information while the women waited watching him nervously.

"…_huh_?" Dean finally managed, his throbbing head not helping.

The woman spoke again, slower this time, seeming to begin to realize the situation. "Castiel is moving out of this apartment. His secretary called us this morning. Wanted us to come pick up Lucifer."

Dean stared at her, his mind beginning to comprehend what she was telling him. "He…he's _gone_?"

They nodded, looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"We need to get Lucifer out of here soon. The moving crews are supposed to show up at two p.m." The lead woman supplied carefully.

Dean finally looked around again. There was a large pile of Lucifer's cat toys, food and carrier gear stacked by the door. The huge cat tree was also staged nearby. It looked like it was all ready to be taken out.

"I think he, uh, left a note for you. Dean, wasn't it?" One of the women pointed at a note taped to the door.

Dean walked numbly over to it, and pulled it down. He opened it carefully, his heart thumping painfully in his tight chest.

**Dean,**

**I hope my short stay hasn't caused too much disruption in your life. I am moving to San Diego immediately for work. I would appreciate if you and your friends could please exercise discretion regarding our brief relationship over the last few weeks.**

**Castiel**

Dean sucked in a sharp breath.

The paper was moving in Dean's hand, making it difficult to read, and he realized it was because he was trembling.

_Discretion? Brief relationship?_

Cas was gone.

He had left him. _Just like that._

He noticed the room was silent, and turned to the women, who all looked away quickly. The woman who had been speaking to Dean clapped her hands together, and spoke.

"Okay, ladies. Let's not keep wasting time. Get the catnip out and get ready with the toys."

Dean stood where he was as the women began moving around him, waving a vial of something below the alcove and wiggling the toys.

"Wh-what are you going to do with Lucifer?" Dean stuttered, mind still reeling from the note.

"Oh, well, Castiel left a very generous donation to the Rescue, and to the family who adopts him. It's a pretty good incentive to find him a home. The family won't have to pay for food or litter for nearly a full year with the money he left them."

Dean blinked for several seconds before he felt the first stirrings of anger begin creeping in. "So he _left him_? He just left his cat here while he takes off to California? That's bullshit!"

The women stopped again, their eyes wide as they watched Dean warily. Their leader spoke up, shrugging as if she sees this kind of thing regularly, "It's not ideal, no. But, sometimes fosters don't work out. He is a… a pretty difficult cat. Can't blame Castiel, really."

"Can't-can't blame him, huh? That's a load of shit! He's _ditching_ his cat." Dean snapped. "And Lucifer isn't difficult- he's fucking awesome! Look at that face! _Look at it_!" Dean pointed an angry finger up to the small animal, and the women humored him, turning their gazes obligingly up to the small animal, who blinked it's wide green eyes and returned their stares. "Who the hell walks away from a face like _that? Huh!?_" The women slowly turned their worried eyes back to Dean, who was quickly moving into full-blown indignant rage at this point.

He completely missed the shared looks that the women exchanged.

The main cat lady spoke, raising her hands helplessly, "_Hmm_. Well, it's a shame you feel that way. The poor little guy is probably going to be stuck bouncing around home after home, even with the money incentive." She sighed dramatically, then stage-whispered to him. "And that's if the people who adopt him don't take the money and just drop him off at the first available corner they can find..."

Dean stared in wide-eyed shock at her words as the other women nodded knowingly, muttering _'yes, that's probably what will happen to the poor thing'._ They shook their heads sadly.

"You-you can't let that happen!" Dean gasped, looking up to where Lucifer's furry little head was watching from the alcove. His green eyes locked on Dean's.

"I don't like it either, but there's not much we can do." The woman sighed helplessly, turning from Dean and giving a big wink to the other women. She continued in a sad, hopeless voice, "If only there was _someone_ who could save the poor little guy. _Someone_ who would love him and take care of him…"

Dean frowned at her words, holding Lucifer's gaze. The kitten meowed at him.

"_Shit_…" Dean muttered, running his hands through his short hair.

…-^o^-…

Dean had just stepped out of the apartment complex, with the cat ladies at his side, arms loaded, when he spotted an available cab conveniently parked on the street.

They made there way over and began loading the vehicle. Once everything was stowed inside, the women cheerfully waved good-bye to him and walked away. Dean placed Lucifer in the backseat and scooted in beside him.

"Got a second passenger this morning, I see." The slow voice drawled out. The familiarity of the voice caught Dean's attention.

"Oh…hey. You-you were my driver from last night, weren't you?" Dean asked, staring at the back of the man's head in surprise.

The cabbie gave a breathy chuckle, and replied in his strange, low voice, "You _remembered_, how kind. I got stuck on a double- boss is a _demon_. You know how it is."

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry to here that man. I-I'm glad though. I don't think I, uh, paid you last night." Dean fumbled, embarrassed at the memory of the cabbie's generosity.

"Oh, never mind _that_. You seemed to have a lot on your mind, if I recall. How did the break up go, if you don't mind me asking. I'm afraid I'm a _hopeless romantic…_."

Dean grimaced, and muttered, "…Good, I guess. He must have seen the opportunity for a clean escape, and took it immediately…."

"Ah, well. Messy break ups can be _Hell_, trust me. I'm sure it's all for the best…."

Dean nodded numbly as the cab drove away, leaving Castiel's abandoned apartment behind.

…-^o^-…

"Dean! Holy fuck, man! I was worried sick! They said you didn't show up for work and I skipped class to look for-" Sam called as he ran out of their house to meet Dean at the cab that he had just pulled up in. "Uh…wh-? What is this?"

Dean sat the carrier down on the sidewalk without a word, and moved around to the trunk.

Sam stared down at the carrier, and almost jumped when a loud meow came from it.

"Is- is there a _cat_ in there?!" He asked in shock. He pulled his eyes from the carrier to look at Dean and watched as his brother and the cabbie pulled bags of food and toys from the trunk and set them onto the pavement. "…Dean?"

Dean ignored his brother, his anger already overriding all other feelings, replacing the gaping sense of loss and guilt.

Once everything was unpacked from the cab, Dean finally spoke. "Sammy, you mind getting the fair for me. Uh, double it up, with a nice tip, too."

Dean turned to the driver and gave him a quick hand shake. "Listen, thanks for, uh, last night and everything, um…." He paused, realizing he had never even got the man's name.

"Alistair. And never you worry, _Dean_. I'm more than happy to help." His low, raspy voice answered as he shook Dean's hand and winked. Dean hesitated for a momenet, not remembering if he had given the cabbie his name during his drunken episode last night. _Must have done, though. How else would the cabbie know it?_

Once the cab pulled away, Dean picked up the carrier and several bags of food, grunting at Sam, "Give me hand, Sammy."

Sam stared at Dean's back as he made his way to the house, then at the disappearing cab, then down at the bags piled at his feet.

He shook his head in confusion, but bent down to pick the stuff up anyway.

_Maybe it was a good idea to just go with the flow for the time being._

_Gauge Dean's feelings before asking too many questions._

_And he had a lot. Especially after the news from Jess that morning._

…-^o^-…

Once everything was inside the house, Dean took a seat on the floor of the living room and began setting up the large cage. According to the main cat lady, who Dean now knew was named Debbie, he had to 'cat-proof' the house and give Lucifer time to adjust to the new surroundings.

Dean tried to follow the instructions for setting up the cage that Lucifer would be staying in temporarily, but they were surprisingly difficult to understand. It didn't help that Sam was hovering over him nervously.

After a few seconds, Sam sat his large form on the floor indian style next to Dean and finally spoke, his voice quiet. "I-I, uh, spoke with Jess this morning." He paused, seeming to wait for Dean to say something.

Dean kept his face schooled. He already knew that there was no way to avoid this conversation. But, hell if he was going to act like he was upset.

"She, uh, she says that…Castiel left early this morning. For San Diego." Sam eyed his brother, looking for a reaction. When none came, he pushed further, "Dean, we need to talk about all of this. Lisa and Castiel and…th-the _baby_…."

Dean spoke suddenly, his voice edged with determination, "Nothing to talk about, Sammy. It's all exactly how it looks." Sam raised his eyebrows and Dean continued, "Lisa's back. She's carrying my baby. Cas…Castiel is gone. _Fled, more like._" Dean mumbled bitterly, turning to Sam and meeting his eye with a hard stare that brooked no argument. "We are **not** going to talk about Castiel, or the last few weeks ever again. It never happened. You got that, Sammy?"

Sam stared at Dean, unsure how to respond. He finally said quietly, "…Dean, I-I'm sorry. About…all of this. I mean, I'm happy about the baby. I know you've always wanted to be a dad. I just…I just wish…" He searched for the best way to say what he was thinking, but finally gave up and just said what was on his mind, "You and Castiel were so _good_ together, man."

Dean's head snapped up to meet his brother's eyes, and he hissed out, "I said not to mention him, Sam. Starting right **now**. If I hear you bring him up again, I swear I'll beat the shit out of you. And you better tell everyone else, too. If Lisa ever hears about…about him, I will kick the ass of whoever told her. No more warnings, Sam."

Sam held his brother's angry glare, his sad eyes searching Dean's for some shred of the sadness that Sam knew he was feeling. After several seconds, he nodded his head reluctantly.

Dean turned back down to the complex metal cage in front of him, glancing over the instructions again in frustration.

Sam reached out, pulling the instructions from his brother's hands with a sigh, "Let me. You're useless with anything written over a fifth-grade level." Dean scowled, but let Sam have the paper.

Together they managed to get the large structure set up. It seemed a bit shaky and unstable, but it would have to work, at least until they managed to get the house cat-proofed.

As Dean carefully released Lucifer from his carrier into the cage, Sam asked in what he hoped was a cheerful, upbeat voice, "So, we have a cat, huh? I'm more of dog person, myself. So, I'm guessing this is, uh, Satan?"

"Lucifer." Dean corrected, a small smile turning up his mouth as the kitten sniffed around the spacious cage then plopped down on it's side to stare at him.

Sam nodded beside him. "Okay. Lucifer. He, uh, seems like a nice cat." He bent forward. Lucifer's eyes shifted to Sam as he spoke, and stayed focused on him intently. Sam shifted uncomfortably, the kitten's green eyes following his every move.

"I think he likes you, Sammy." Dean muttered, a hint of humor in his voice as he patted Sam on the back.

"He's…okay, yeah. He's creepin' me out, Dean." Sam whispered quietly, as Lucifer's eyes dilated to two huge black holes. His hind legs rose barely, and his tail lowered. "What…what is he _doing_?" Sam muttered nervously. The kitten began wiggling it's butt, eyes still trained intently on Sam.

The cat pounced suddenly, slamming it's small body into the metal side of the cage and swinging a long, pawed arm out reaching for Sam.

Sam shot back with a shriek. "What the _fuck_, man!?"

Dean burst into laughter at the sight of Lucifer's tiny clawed hand reaching out desperately through the bars for Sam. "Oh, yeah! He likes you a lot, Sammy. Congrats!"

Sam shot him a bitch face, before turning his gaze back to the little prisoner, who was making a whole-hearted effort to squeeze his tiny head through the thin bars.

Sam was going to say something snarky, but he suddenly decided against it at the sight of Dean laughing. If the kitten was able to cheer Dean up right now, then Sam wasn't going to complain.

He changed the subject instead, asking a question that had been on his mind. "So, is, uh, Lisa going to be moving in here now, too?"

Dean's smile dropped, and Sam instantly regretted the question. "Uh, yeah. I-I guess so." Dean frowned as he thought. "Maybe…maybe we can move her into Mom and Dad's old room. At least until we get it set up as the…the nursery."

Sam turned to look at Dean in surprise. "She's not going to sleep in your room?"

Dean cringed, and answered quickly, "I-I don't…think so. I mean, it's been a while and…I just, I don't want to move too fast, ya know?" He glanced quickly at Sam, before turning away and busily unpacking Lucifer's bags.

Sam muttered, "Yeah. Okay, man."

The sound of Sam's phone ringing filled the awkward silence and he answered it gratefully.

"Hey, Jess. What's up?"

There were several seconds of silence as Sam listened. Suddenly, he turned toward Dean with a worried look..

"Right now? Yeah, I'll-I'll turn it on. Hold up-" Sam moved to grab the remote and turn the television on. He flipped through the channels to the news station. A pretty blond news anchor was speaking, and Dean stiffened in cold shock as a picture of Castiel was pulled up behind her.

Sam and Dean stared as the anchor spoke.

**"Shocking news from the business world today. The global giant, ADA Inc., has just released a statement to the media that has rocked corporate America. According to spokesman Dick Roman, the youngest member of the Novak Dynasty, Castiel Novak, has assumed power and leadership of the company. The sudden shift in power was not addressed in the statement given to reporters, but inside sources are suggesting that the abrupt regime change comes after the disappearance of not only the ADA founder himself, Theodore Novak, but also that of his oldest son, Gabriel Novak. Sources inside the company claim that the disappearances may have something to do with possible financial instability."**

Dean could only stare at the screen in shock. He realized that Sam was watching him worriedly, his voice speaking lowly to Jess. "Yeah. I-I can't believe it, either. You guys at the office didn't know anything about it?"

Dean's eyes fell on the picture of Castiel, apparently taken at some sort of press conference. He was seated at a table, his face set in a firm frown.

Suddenly, the image shifted to a still frame. Dean immediately scowled as he recognized the well-groomed image of Dick Roman. Dean could just make out the purple tinge of a bruise on his jaw.

_Was he...was he wearing make-up to cover it_? Dean wondered with a small flash of pride.

The reporter was speaking again,

**"Let's go now, live to the press conference in San Diego, where the new leader of the ADA is being introduced."**

The image of Dick Roman filled the screen in real-time video. His white teeth flashed as he spoke smoothly.

**"Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, Mr. Castiel Novak is more than qualified for the position as Head of the ADA. The reasons for his move to the position will not be addressed at this time. However, we would like to assure the public, as well as our intermediate offices around the globe, that the decision was directed by the founder, himself. We have great confidence in his decision to position his son into the role of head of the company."**

The audience of reporters erupted into shouted questions.

The camera panned suddenly to the right, falling on Castiel.

Dean's heart stopped and his legs almost gave out on him. He half-stumbled to the couch and dropped heavily into it.

Castiel was sitting between two other men who were smiling into the crowd of reporters. Castiel, however, had a blank, almost lost look on his face. He was wearing another fancy-looking suit, and his normally wild hair was combed down neatly. His blue eyes stood out in the flashing lights of dozens of cameras going off.

_Cas..._

Dick Roman continued speaking.

**"Mr. Castiel Novak is very excited to be assuming command of the company. He will be addressing questions in person this Friday, in an interview with Cathy Campbell on her morning talk show."**

The camera stayed on Castiel's stoic form, and Dean watched as the handsome blond-haired man on Castiel's left frowned at him, then gave him a subtle jab with his elbow. Castiel was startled out of his thoughts, seeming to realize that all eyes were on him. His face split instantly into a handsome, if strained, smile. The camera flashes seemed to triple in number.

Dean felt anger shoot through him.

_Cas was being paraded in front of the press like a damn peacock._

_He looked so...alone._

Dean's heart stuttered at the thought, and he tried hard to ignore it as Dick continued speaking.

**"Unfortunately, we will not be taking questions at this time. We invite you all to tune in on Friday for more information from the man himself. Thank you all for your time."**

Dick concluded his speech, and the screen flashed back to the image of the female anchor.

**"Well, certainly a sudden and surprising change for the ADA and the business world. Stay with Channel Ten as we cover this exciting story as it develops throughout the day."**

Dean continued to stare at the TV as it changed to a cereal commercial of cartoon children chasing a leprechaun.

Sam was still on the phone with Jess, and Dean listened numbly as he spoke. "I-I can't believe this. So his dad and Gabriel are just… _gone_? How is that even possible? We just saw Gabe last week!"

Jess apparently was saying something on the other end. "Yeah…Yeah. I'll-I'll call you again later, okay. Yeah, love you, too."

He ended the call, and Dean didn't have to look to know his brother was watching him.

"Don't-," He winced as his voice cracked, "Don't say anything, Sam. I'm serious." Dean's voice was weak. His eyes were still locked unseeing on the screen.

He felt sick.

Dick had told him. He had said that Castiel was in charge now. Dean just hadn't realized how big of a deal it actually was.

_A press conference?_

_An interview on a morning show?_

_It was surreal. Everything had moved so quickly._

_It was just last night when…when Castiel was in Lawrence…in his arms…._

Dean shook himself, taking a deep breath.

He turned to his brother. "No one talks about this. You understand me. No one. Tell the others." He stood, walking on shaking legs to the door. "Now, give me a ride to pick up my car. I need to help Lisa pack her stuff and bring it all over."

…-^o^-…

"Alright everyone. It was a good press release. It looks like we were able to get ahead of the scandal, for now. But, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. We need to prep Mr. Novak for his interview Friday. Let's get his notes made up now. I want the PR team to have his suit picked out immediately. And get me the public opinion statistics from today's press release. Let's see where we stand as of today, then make a plan from there. And as a reminder: all executives and top officials will be staying in the sixth floor condos for the time being. No exceptions. Curfew is ten p.m. The media is going to be vicious as they catch wind of the missing money. We need to keep everyone close."

Michael's authoritative voice filled the top floor office of the main ADA building. Dozens of people were scrambling into action, racing hurriedly to computers, grabbing up paperwork, running in and out of the offices.

To Michael's left, a large group of executives, including the San Diego CEO, Zachariah and his cohorts, were seated around a large conference table, sipping their coffees leisurely, and reading newpapers.

Ruby and Charlie were typing quickly, while a large crowd surrounded their desks, handing them various documents and speaking to them in hushed tones. The women had their eyes locked in complete focus on the computer screens as the nodded, or occasionally shook their heads.

Dick Roman was standing with several of his team members, pointing in clear annoyance to a light blue tie being held up to him, and angrily ordering the other five to be taken away.

Naomi was weaving busily around to the various tables and stations where groups were sitting hard at work. Alfie trailed behind her, scribbling notes and smiling cheerfully.

It all looked like barely-controlled mayhem to Castiel, who watched through the door frame (which no longer had a door attached to it- he noted) of his father's spacious office.

He let his gaze drift over to the large windows behind him.

_That was how Gabriel did it. A few knotted sheets, and a window left open on the floor right below._

_A Grand Exit in true Gabriel fashion._

Castiel sat still, listening to the loud thrumming of voices and constant movement outside his quiet office.

_Too late to try the same stunt, _he thought somberly.

_He had already accepted the position. Everything was happening now. There was no escaping for him._

_And it wasn't like he had anywhere to escape to._

_Or anyone…._

He stood abruptly, walking across the room to the door frame. He took a second to breath deeply, squaring his shoulders, and lifting his head.

_This is easy. Just like a Think Tank._

_I can do this._

When he stepped out into the office, the voices suddenly died down as everyone stared at him.

"Where are we at with the interview questions? And has anyone made up the list of topics to avoid yet?" He deep voice resonated loudly through the high-ceilinged space. Michael had turned and blinked at him in surprise, a small frown gracing his handsome face. The table of executives was frozen, some mid-way through taking a drink, as they stared at his sudden appearance.

Without warning the room erupted back into loud, busy noises as everyone snapped back into action. Several people hurried nervously over to Castiel, holding out paperwork and speaking quickly.

Castiel took the proffered paperwork, and stepped forward as he read over it.

_This was where he belonged._

_Where his father wanted him to be._

_He had to leave behind everything else and focus on what was important. Saving the company._

…-^o^-…

Ted was on the phone again. His calls seemed to be getting more frequent.

Tessa tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help but catch part of the conversation as she placed the older man's coffee down.

"Yes, he doesn't seem like it, but when he tries, he can be very authoritative….yes, he just needs a bit of encouragement." Ted smiled as he spoke. "Have they made their move yet?...Hmm…no, they won't waste too much time. I expect they will approach him before Friday…no, don't interfere, you'll just put yourself at risk…."

Tessa was forced to move away as to appear to not be listening.

It sounded as if something serious was going on. She remembered the strange man who Ted had spoken with on the bench. Did all of this have something to do with him?

She moved over to Sheriff Henriksen several booths away, who was watching the television as he ate.

"Anything good on?" Tessa asked, not bothering to glance up at it.

"Just some kind of corporate shake up. Maybe a missing person case or two. Not my problem, thank god." He sighed and turned away from the screen which was flashing Gabriel's face while a caption under it read: Missing Novaks. Where are the father and oldest son of the Novak Family?

"Huh. Slow news day, I guess." She muttered, picking up the remote lazily and turned the TV off..

…-^o^-…

Sam shifted in his bed, rolling tiredly to pull Jess tighter into his arms.

_It had been a long day._

_Dean had brought home the crazy cat. Then Lisa._

_It had been awkward, seeing her again. And she seemed to feel the same, greeting Sam shyly and making a quiet apology for the mess she had made when she left. And the mess she knew she was making now._

_Sam had wanted to be angry with her. He had wanted to ignore her or make her feel unwelcome._

_But he couldn't manage it._

_Lisa hadn't just been Dean's girlfriend. She had also been a good friend of Sam's for years, too. Seeing her so sad and pregnant and sorry…it was painful._

_He had ended up pulling her into a warm hug, causing her to erupt into tears and cling to him._

_Now she was set up in their parents old room, right by Sam's._

Sam sighed to himself tiredly, nestling his face into Jess's hair.

_It took his sleepy brain several seconds to start putting his thoughts together._

_The first thought was that Jess had changed shampoo, which made Sam frown into her hair._

_The second thought was that she had cut her hair short, which caused Sam to slowly begin forcing his eyes open in surprise._

_The final thought was that Jess had decided not to come over to the house that night in order to give Lisa some time to adjust…._

Sam flung himself out of the bed violently, landing hard on the floor.

His movement roused the form lying in the bed. Sam hopped over to the lamp on his nightstand, flicking it on quickly, then holding it up as a weapon, prepared to strike the intruder with it.

The brightness lit up the room, causing Gabriel to cringe and mutter angrily as he shielded his tired eyes.

"GA-GABRIEL?! What the _hell_!" Sam stuttered in shock.

Gabriel squinted at the brightness, throwing his hands up and gesturing wildly for Sam to lower his voice.

"Wha-! What the hell are you doing in my bed!?" Sam demanded almost hysterically.

"Shhh! Geez, Sammy! Are you trying to wake the _whole damn house?_" Gabriel hissed. He yawned widely, blinking as he began to wake up completely.

Sam shut his mouth quickly and listened for noises from the rest of the house. Dean's room was at the other end of the hall, but Lisa's was right next door. After a few tense seconds of absolute silence, Sam breathed out quietly.

"I don't-" Sam tried to form words as he stared at the man he had just been cuddling. "What are you _doing_ here, Gabriel?" He finally managed to ask, whispering the words angrily.

"Well, I was _trying_ to sleep." Gabriel groaned, shooting Sam a dirty look. Sam noticed the window on his far wall was slightly open.

"I-in _my_ bed? What the fuck man?"

"Well, I had a long trip. I had to sleep _somewhere_. Any place is better than trying to sleep while riding shotgun with handsy trucker. Geez, don't be so stingy, Sam. I thought we were friends."

Sam just stared at him incredulously. The sleep was beginning to un-cloud from his mind, and he realized that the 'missing' Gabriel Novak was sitting right in front of him, on his bed, at the very least, shirtless….

"Holy shit, Gabe!" Sam rasped out, wide-eyed. "Do you...do you have any idea how many people are looking for you? They said on the news that you disappeared! Where the hell have you been?"

"Ah, yeah, well. About that…I had to duck out and pay my Pops a visit." He shrugged.

Sam's jaw dropped. "You know where your dad is?! Gabriel- the company, the ADA, they put Castiel in charge! He's in San Diego right now!"

Gabriel nodded, a frown on his face. "Yeah, I know. But, that's not the real problem, Sam." Sam just stared dumbly from where he stood by the door, waiting for Gabriel to explain. "You see, there are some bad elements inside the company, and they are going to cause problems for my baby bro." He looked straight into Sam's eyes and stated, "_And your big bro, too_."

Sam gaped in confusion. "_Dean_? What does Dean have to do with it? He…he and Castiel, uh, well, they split up, Gabe."

He looked over to Gabriel to see how he handled the news. The small man just nodded grimly. "Yeah. Unfortunately, your brother has already popped up on the bad guys' radar. He's not safe, Sam."

"What..? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there are people trying to take down the ADA, and they will use any means necessary to get what they want. And that means using your brother to manipulate mine."

Gabriel threw off the sheets and moved off the bed. Sam groaned loudly, wincing when he realized Gabriel was only wearing a pair of Pokémon boxers. "Dude- _come on_! That's just _wrong_!"

Gabriel grinned cheekily, "Oh, relax princess. I only go for violent blondes. A few years ago though…" He let the sentence trail off, winking suggestively at the tall man.

Sam shuddered, shaking his head helplessly. "Back on topic, man. You're saying there are people in the ADA who might come after Dean? Just to try and get to Castiel? That sounds crazy. Like, Die Hard/Mission Impossible crazy. Are you sure?"

Gabriel nodded, his face returning to serious. "Yeah, I'm sure. And we need to find a way to stop them before they have a chance to get to our brothers. But, we have to keep a low profile, you know. If they find out we're onto them, they may do something drastic."

Sam hesitated. He wasn't sure if all of this could be true.

_Corporate espionage? Hostile takeovers? It all sounded crazy._

"I don't know, Gabe…."

"Trust me, Sam. I need your help with this. I'm going in, under cover, to see what I can find out. I need you here on the outside keeping an eye on Dean."

"You…you're actually going to try to sneak into the ADA? Gabriel, you are like the second most wanted person in the whole company. They'll spot you the minute you show up in San Diego!"

"Don't you worry about that, Sam. I have my ways. Just promise me you'll keep watch on this end and let me know if anything happens."

Sam shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I-I guess, yeah…? I mean. I'm justing making sure nothing weird happens around Dean, right? I guess I can manage that…."

Gabriel's face broke into a wide smile as he nodded cheerfully. "Out-standing, Sammy! We'll have to come up with code names and all that jazz later! Now," he suddenly flopped back onto the bed, laying on his side and patting the empty space next to him seductively, "Let's get back to where we left off, _handsome_."

He ducked fast as Sam hurled an alarm clock at him.

* * *

The plot thickens!

Let me know if you're feeling a little bit less tense after this chapter. I raced to get it out to you as fast as I could- just so you wouldn't stay too stressed after that last cliffhanger.


	28. Chapter 28-Zero Missed Calls

Beta: InThePalmOfMyHand

I am going to start off with apologizing profusely for taking so long to update. I hate it when I can't churn the chapters out within days of each other. Makes me feel...dirty.

Thanks so much for the absolutely wonderful Reviews! Keep your chins up! The Fates (including that bitchy little blonde) cannot keep our boys separated for long!

BTW: I changed the Cover Image to a custom one for this Story. Yay!

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel trudged tiredly from his empty offices on the top floor of the ADA building down to the sixth, where the suites were set up for everyone.

He should've known. He should've expected it.

But some small, desperately weak part of him had hoped.

It was a dangerous mistake.

Dean had not called or texted. No pleas for him to come back. No apologies or excuses. Not even a 'fuck you'. _Nothing_.

Castiel's breath hitched as he bit back a small sob. No- he shouldn't have expected anything. His note had been clear. A firm, but courteous ending to the short fireworks show that was their relationship. It had been flashy and intense and...

Beautiful.

And now it was over. It had been so painfully brief and now only smoke remained, leaving Castiel choking in the wake of it all.

The elevator dinged for the sixth floor and Castiel stepped out.

His first day here had been a learning experience.

His constant attempts to wrest the reigns of the company from the Michael's tight grip had not been met well at first. People were hesitant. Reluctant to put their faith in Castiel. They kept trying to subtly cast questioning glances to Michael at every order. It was frustrating.

But Castiel couldn't blame them. Michael was reliable. A solid figure of leadership and experience.

Castiel was…well, he wasn't very sure what they thought of him initially. After having to deal largely with Gabriel, Castiel was amazed at his own effort to take charge.

It had taken most of the afternoon and into the evening to establish himself as trustworthy and reliable, a feat made more incredible by the fact that he wasn't even sure that he really _was_ a competent leader.

But when he stepped into the role, he found himself wearing it with startling ease. It was just like a Think Tank, only with higher stakes.

Almost…_enjoyable_. It had sense of power, of command, the need for fast, well thought-out decisions. He found himself eagerly craving more. And that scared him.

Movement pulled his attention away from his thoughts and he groaned audibly.

"Piss off, Dick." He grumbled, stepping around the man standing in front of his room door.

"I-I just wanted to tell you that you did a good job today. Everyone's very impressed." He stayed, standing uncomfortably close to Castiel as the man tried to fish out his entry card. He continued, speaking quickly, "And I don't want there to be all this bad blood between us. You…you know why I had to do what I did. He was lying- keeping secr-"

Dick jumped back fast as Castiel spun around and grabbed a handful of the taller man's suit. "_I. Said. Piss_. _Off._"

Dick was gaping in shock at the look of fury and barely controlled rage in Castiel's eyes as he hissed the words.

At that moment, the door neighboring Castiel's opened and Balthazar's grinning face poked out. "Good Heavens, am I missing a party?" The tall blonde stepped out of his room, approaching the two men cheerfully, eyes taking in the scene.

Castiel released Dick reluctantly, turning back to his door and digging for his key card. He was fueled partially by anger, and partially by the desperate need to get clear of the two men before they could start in on each other.

Dick and Balthazar were oil and water.

Despite common misperceptions, not all openly gay men got along well. There was not always a sense of solidarity or brotherhood.

These two tall men were living proof of that fact.

_Shit-where the fuck was that key card?_! He quickened the pace, trying desperately to get inside as quickly as he could.

Too late.

"Th-they put YOU in the room right next to Castiel?!" Dick practically shrieked in fury. "I won't allow it!"

Balthazar met the man's anger in his usual calm, mocking way, which never failed to rile the dark haired man up even further. "No need to raise an army to defend Cassie's honor, _Dickie_. I have- as they say- been there and done that."

Dick's face was already well on its way to a hot red. He made a clear effort to fight for control, gritting out, "Well, everybody makes _mistakes_."

"Oh, yes. We made that mistake, ah, how many times Cassie? In the forties-range, if I remember correctly." He tilted his head merrily at Dick's stuttered indignation.

Castiel found his key and nearly dropped it in his haste to escape the impending rant that was undoubtedly going to follow that little admission from Balthazar.

Of course, Dick knew they had been together on and off in college. It was just that Dick never seemed to handle anything that came from Balthazar's mouth with his usual grace and calm demeanor.

The door clicked, and Castiel dodged inside quickly.

He frowned as Balthazar ducked surprisingly fast inside behind him. The blonde turned quickly to throw the wide-eyed Dick a smile and cheerful wave good-bye, before shutting the door firmly in his face.

Castiel sighed tiredly and glanced back as Balthazar watched Dick's reaction to the snub through the peephole, the Brit grinning widely.

"You really need to stop teasing him, Balthazar." Castiel removed his blazer and loosened his tie as he made his way across the room to the couch, where he collapsed.

"I'll stop doing it when he stops making it so bloody fun." Balthazar replied happily, moving away from the door after, Castiel assumed, Dick finally entered his own room. "I had wanted to speak to you about him actually." His face turned into a frown, surprising Castiel. "There are…rumors, you know. About after you left. People saying strange things about him."

Castiel didn't want to discuss Dick, but if it kept the topic away from Dean, he would gladly take the distraction. "Like what?" He mumbled.

"Like, he has been asking gay men all over the building to sleep with him." Balthazar answered, a note of concern edging into his voice.

"Wha-? That…that doesn't sound like Dick. He's hardly the promiscuous type." Castiel answered, his own voice slightly worried by the sudden knowledge.

"Yes, well, that's the weird thing about it all, Cassie. Apparently, he is quite literally 'sleeping' with them. As in, no sex." He turned his confused stare to Castiel.

"Oh! It's _that_? He's actually been _that desperate_?" Castiel would have laughed any other time, but his mood just wouldn't allow the merriment. Balthazar cast him a patient glance, eyebrows raised, clearly awaiting an explanation. "Dick…uh, well, Dick has issues with sleeping alone. He's a..._cuddler_." Castiel admitted, using air quotations. He almost felt guilty for dropping the knowledge into Balthazar's already large arsenal, but he reminded himself quickly of the man's interference in Lawrence.

_Screw him. He deserved whatever Balthazar decided to do with the knowledge. And from the look of the gleam in the blonde's eye, it was going to be something traumatic._

"He-he can't stand sleeping alone? The mighty Dick Roman? Dear god- that is…just-! Is it my _birthday_? Oh, it must be!" He flopped right beside Castiel on the couch, snuggling intimately close, practically humming with giddy excitement. "Oh, Cassie! There's so much fun to be had!"

Castiel felt the beginnings of a small smile curving his lips. It took a lot to make Balthazar genuinely happy about something. He usually handled things with an unaffected air of cynicism.

He smile died fast at Balthazar's next words, however. "So, are you planning on explaining why the hell you weren't accompanied here by your sexy mechanic? I can't get a straight answer out of anyone."

Castiel felt his body physically cringe from the question. The familiar pain and dread that accompanied Castiel's memories of Dean returned in full force. "It didn't work out." He practically whispered, trying not to choke on the words. He stood fast, hoping to escape an interrogation.

Balthazar's hands shot up, pulling Castiel back down into his arms and wrapping around him tightly. His voice was personal; quiet and gentle as he spoke, "Oh, no you don't, Cassie. Tell me all about it. Tell me about Dean." He reached up to run his warm hands gently through Castiel's dark hair.

Castiel felt the tight, burning knot of a sob work its way up his throat. Stinging in his eyes warned him of impending tears. "Dammit, Balthazar…." He moaned hoarsely, before his entire body seized into uncontrollable, shaking sobs.

Balthazar held him close, patiently stroking his back and head as Castiel released a the floodgates that he had been holding back for the past day.

It seemed like he stayed that way, with his head buried deep in Balthazar's chest, for hours. When he finally calmed down enough to pull himself together and speak, it was barely a whisper. "He…he had a girlfriend. He was going to marry her, Balthazar. He proposed and everything. Then she left, and showed back up- pregnant. He was…he was so happy. Said he was going to be a daddy. He said- god!- he said he wasn't even gay, Balthazar. That we had to break up. He…he didn't want me anymore…."

Fresh tears threatened to slide a burning trail down his soaked face as he spoke. He could feel Balthazar stiffen beneath him- hear his breath catch at the words. Castiel leaned against him, letting the silence fill until forever, it seemed.

Finally, Balthazar spoke, his chest rumbling lowly. "But you still want him?"

The question was exactly what Castiel had been dreading. Saying it out loud. Putting his raw, bleeding heart out on display to be judged for its weakness.

The only sounds in the quiet suite were the two thumping hearts, so close together.

One steady and waiting, the other pounding a rapid cacophony, dreading the word that finally squeezed its insidious way out of Castiel's barely open lips.

"…_Yes._"

And there was no taking it back. No chance to pull it back in and keep it secreted away deep in his heart, where it couldn't hurt him.

Balthazar squeezed Castiel's trembling body tighter, the only indication that the quiet syllable was heard.

…-^o^-…

When Sam awoke and unfolded from his cramped position on the floor of his room Thursday morning, Gabriel was gone. The window on the side wall was cracked open, the curtains askew.

Sam huffed a sigh, shaking his head at the tangled sheets of his bed, the only other indicator that Gabriel had been there last night.

He stretched his sore muscles and stepped out of his room and into the kitchen. To his surprise, Lisa was already up, busy making coffee. She turned and gave him a tentative smile. Sam returned it carefully.

It was strange how familiar and yet unfamiliar all of this seemed. Lisa being here, like she had never left. Picking back up like she belonged there. Fitting back into the place that Sam hadn't even realized had been hers.

As Sam was remembering the past, Lisa cleared her throat and put on a happy smile as she seemed to check behind him, "So, do I get to meet Jess now? I made enough coffee for her, too."

Sam looked at her in confusion. "Jess? She isn't here."

"Oh! I-I thought I…heard someone in your room last night. I'm sorry, I wake up at odd times nowadays." She looked flustered by the mistake.

Sam's face flushed. "Oh, no. No, that was…no. I was talking to a friend…er, on speaker phone. Sorry if it bothered you." Sam fumbled over the lie.

Lisa seemed perplexed at the excuse, but she gave him a hesitant smile instead of asking him about his late night phone call. Sam was grateful for the break. He needed to keep Gabriel's visit a secret, especially if what he said was true.

_But, was it? Was Dean really in danger? And Castiel? What sort of danger?_

"Um…I'm glad you're up first. I was…well," She laughed nervously, as if she wasn't sure how to ask, "I was just wondering if, um, Dean was- was _with someone_? Recently?" She finally met Sam's eyes, and he realized how concerned she actually was. She held his gaze, searching his eyes. Sam tried to keep them as blank as possible while he racked his mind for the right words.

Fortunately, Dean stumbled tiredly into the kitchen at that exact moment.

He stretched widely, yawning. "Oh man, I am fucking sore. Had to sleep on the damn sofa all night cuz Lu wouldn't shut the hell up…."

Sam and Lisa just stared at him, horrified.

"Wh-what?" He asked, worried by their stunned silence.

Sam shot up fast, darting out the door to his truck without a word. The sound of tires peeling out was loud in the quiet early morning air. Dean turned back to Lisa, who was nearly doubled over with laughter. "What?" He demanded again.

"Yo-your, _haha_, face!" She managed.

Dean frowned in confusion. _Did he have weird sleep lines from the couch?_

He stormed down the hall to the bathroom and flipped on the light switch.

"...What the-?! SAM! Oh, I'm gonna _kill_ that fucker!" Lisa heard from the direction of the bathroom, causing her to erupt into more uncontrolled laughter.

Dean returned, furious. "Why the fuck would he do this?" Dean gestured angrily at his face.

Dean's face was covered in graffiti markings, which comprised of a unibrow, villain mustache, pimples and a very detailed, hairy penis- apparently in the process of ejaculating.

Lisa's only response was a loud, helpless snort.

…-^o^-…

Sam pulled over further down the road, in the direction of his university, too pissed to wait any longer. He snatched his phone out of his pocket, searching for Gabriel's name on his contact list.

It wasn't there.

However, a new contact had appeared: **-Loki ; D-**

Sam hit the contact and sent a text.

**S: Real mature, jack-ass.**

After a few seconds, his phone buzzed with a response.

**L: *_* no idea what you mean. remember the plan moose.**

Immediately after the text from Gabriel, Sam's phone went off again, this time is fast procession.

**D: you better be halfway to canada mofo!**

**D: thought we were cool you bitch!**

**D: i'm gonna beat you shitless!**

**D: srsly- hide fucker!**

Sam rubbed his eyes tiredly. _How the fuck was he supposed to watch out for Dean if the dude was gonna kick his ass if he comes within thirty feet?_

_Fucking Gabriel._

…-^o^-…

Castiel arrived at his office Thursday morning, tired but feeling slightly better. The relief of pouring out his feelings to Balthazar was like a weight being lifted off of him.

His throat was sore and swollen from crying. He knew Balthazar would keep the secret of his admission and emotional outburst. They had been friends for years, through tough times and good ones. He was almost like family at this point, past sexual encounters not counted, of course.

Castiel had drifted into exhausted sleep sometime after his confession. He vaguely remembered being roused and led to his bedroom, where he curled up under the warm blankets and graciously let unconsciousness sweep over him. Balthazar was gone when he awoke.

Ruby and Charlie gave him waves as he entered into the main office area and passed through the door frame into his personal office space.

He sat heavily in his father's large cushioned chair. There was a lot of work that needed to be done and piles of paperwork for him to go over.

Taking a deep breath, he began the daunting task of going through it all.

At the top of the stack was a manila envelope with no marking on it. He frowned, opening it carefully and pulling out the contents.

His heart stopped.

They were enlarged pictures apparently taken from considerable distance, using a zoom.

Pictures of Dean.

_Dean bent over as he worked under the hood of a car._

_Dean stopped at a traffic light, apparently mid-way through enthusiastic singing._

_Dean smiling as he stood in the salvage yard, grinning into his cell phone._

_Dean…_

_Oh, fuck…._

_The remaining photos, three of them, included Castiel._

_Dean and Castiel talking at the Roadhouse the first time Castiel went to his concert.._

_Dean and Castiel- fuck!- seated on Castiel's couch when they had their movie Sunday. It appeared to have been taken through the living room window of Castiel's apartment._

_Dean and Castiel exchanging heated looks as they leaned in toward each other at the diner on the square._

The time stamps on the bottom corner of the photos proved the dates. They were all taken in the very first few weeks of their relationship.

Castiel felt the faint, lightheadedness of shock. His body was shaking violently.

_Who-?! Who could have done this?! Who could have been following Castiel for so long? Watching him so closely, even before he was a prospective head of the company?_

"Oh, is that your friend Dean, sir?"

Castiel jumped violently in his seat, startled by Alfie's happy voice coming from right over his shoulder. He flipped the photos over quickly, gasping breaths not seeming to fill his lungs as much as he needed.

The room spun.

He felt Alfie grasp his arm, calling out in a worried voice for the secretaries.

Castiel tried regain his calm as the women rushed in.

"What's happened, Alfie? What's wrong?" Naomi's voice asked urgently.

"I'm not sure ma'am. There were photos. And I-I just asked if the man in them was Dean." He answered nervously.

Dean saw Naomi reach for the pictures sitting in front of him, and tried to catch her hand, but he was too dizzy and missed.

She held up the photos, the other two secretaries looking over her shoulder. Their eyes widened as they went through them.

"Is something wrong?" A voice asked from the doorway. Naomi lowered the photos quickly, all three women spinning around smoothly to smile brightly at Zachariah. Castiel watched as Naomi deftly tucked the photos and the folder they came in under a pile of paperwork.

"No, sir. Everything is fine. Can we help you with something?"

Zachariah stepped into the office, his greasy smile wide as his eyes slid over the group, then Castiel. "I just wanted to drop in and give my personal congratulations to our new head of the ADA. Ah, are you feeling unwell Castiel? You look pale."

Castiel dug deep in his trembling body, forcing it to appear calm and unaffected. "I'm fine, Zachariah. Still adjusting to the move, I think. Thank you for stopping by."

"Glad to hear it! We're all looking forward to working with you, you know. In fact, me and a few of the guys wanted to go over a few proposals with you. Big stuff. May be just what the company needs in these…dire circumstances. After your interview tomorrow, of course. Maybe Saturday? Make it a lunch meeting?" He added, smiling.

"Sounds good, Zachariah. Naomi will add it to my schedule." Castiel stated with what he hoped was a normal voice. His ears were ringing so bad that he could barely hear his own words.

"Great! 'Till then." He waved as he left.

Alfie and all three women turned back to Castiel, faces returning to masks of pale fear.

Naomi spoke first, her voice edged with seriousness. "Sir. Where did these photos come from? Is that 'Dean'?" She pulled the images back out, laying them on his desk.

Castiel could only nod weakly. He cleared his tight throat and mumbled, "They were…on top of my stack."

Naomi turned to Alfie. "You delivered the paperwork this morning. Where did this envelope come from?"

Alfie frowned. "Sorry, ma'am. I don't remember seeing that envelope when I dropped everything off earlier."

Naomi seemed to think for several seconds, before addressing everyone. "No one speak about this to the rest of the staff. I'll see if security picked up on anything. They have the cameras for this floor disabled for the time being. I'll see what I can find anyway. In the mean time, it is important that we act as if nothing has changed." She turned to Castiel, sadness in her eyes. "Sir, you may need to be prepared for threats or even blackmail. Whoever did this appears to know about your sexual preference and Dean. They could try to use it against you."

"Are we…are we going tell Michael? Or Dick?" Castiel asked quietly, still stunned as he stared at the photos laid out in front of him. "They should know that the spies have this information. They need to plan for it…"

Naomi thought about that, but slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir. But I think it is best that we don't trust anyone except the people in this room, for now."

"You don't really think Dick or Michael…?" Castiel asked in surprise.

"I think we should proceed with caution, sir. The enemies could be anyone."

* * *

Hmmm...things are heating up fast. Thoughts? Worries? Gripes? What do you all think? I'd love to hear!

Next Up: Dean has issues, uh, handling himself...? :D

Ruby has a plan.

Balthazar drags Cas out past curfew!


	29. Chapter 29-From the Depths of the Box

Beta: InThePalmOfMyHand

Warning: Let's be real here. If you made it this far, you shouldn't need to be warned about mature content, right? ^o*

But... just in case someone wandered in here, lost and confused: This chapter contains graphic material and loads of kinkiness (really, it got away from me...). Read at your own risk.

And thank you all so much for the reviews last chapter! Wow, you all really have it out for Lisa, huh? Cut the girl a break, would ya? I mean, it's DEAN WINCHESTER. I would get knocked up by a random guy, too, if it meant I could cry on his firm, toned shoulder...

Just saying ;D

Haha! But, seriously, I LOVE hearing you all rant about everything! Please keep it up!

Enjoy!

* * *

Charlie kept casting worried glances through the doorframe of Castiel's office, watching him closely.

He looked pale and very worried.

_Of course, who wouldn't after finding such a nasty little surprise? Who could've sent him those pictures? And how did they get them?_

_It must be horrifying to discover that someone was watching you during some of your most intimate and personal moments._

"Stop doing that." Ruby's quiet order came from the desk right beside Charlie. She turned to the other woman, who had not bothered to look up from her paperwork. "You're going to give him away. Stop staring at him before someone gets suspicious."

Charlie bit her lip, glancing down for a moment, before suddenly rolling her chair over right next to the blond. She whispered lowly, "But-! What are we going to do? This is really bad. That was obviously a threat!"

Ruby sighed and finally looked up, annoyance clearly written across her pretty features. "The only thing we can do now is wait. They made the first move so they have the upper-hand."

"But, we have to do something. Castiel is in danger."

Ruby stared at Charlie for several seconds, seeming to have some sort of inner debate. At last, she spoke. "I'm working on it, okay." Charlie blinked and waited for her to continue. The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed again. "Okay, listen carefully. I've been working my way into the Executives' secretaries' circle, alright? I've been feeding them little tidbits and details about Castiel to get into their good graces. I figure, if they think they can pull me over to their side as a spy, then I can act as a double-agent and spy on them in return."

Charlie's mouth fell open. "That…that is the single most awesome idea I have ever heard in my entire life! I mean, except obviously anything that that Doctor comes up with, but he's from a special species, so it doesn't count. Oh, and obviously when Sherlock planned out the Reichenbach Fall, but he's also kind of…." She trailed off at the expression on Ruby's face. "But, anyway- love the plan! How can I help?"

"All you have to do is act natural. Whenever the secretaries are around, I'll slip into character. You just need to pretend that you and I don't like each other."

"Oh, well that shouldn't be too hard." Charlie cringed as the words left her mouth. To her surprise, Ruby flinched as well. She almost seemed…sad for a moment, before hastily pulling her features back to their usual cold expression.

Charlie decided that it was time to ask the question that had been bothering her. "Ruby, I wanted to ask- why did you let me come with you guys? You know, back at the Lawrence airport?"

Ruby frowned at her before turning back to her paperwork.

Charlie decided she was already pushing her luck, might as well go all in. She leaned over, nudging the other woman gently with her elbow and humming cheerfully, "C'mon! No need to shy. We're practically BFFs now. Spill it!"

Ruby eyed her elbow as if it was a fly in her soup and mumbled, "Knock it off. We're supposed to be enemies, remember?"

Charlie moved away slowly, keeping her features schooled, but she continued, "Admit it. You want to my friend! That's why you told Naomi to let me come along. You had an epiphany about how cool and awesome and fun I am and decided to jump from that tall, cold ivory tower you keep yourself locked in, and free fall into the warm embrace of my undying friendship!"

Ruby lifted her wide, incredulous eyes to Charlie and stared as if she expected Charlie to suddenly shout, 'Smile! You're on Candid Camera!'

"Charlie. Shut up."

Charlie did shut her mouth, and even moved back over to her desk. But after a few seconds of silence she sing-songed low enough to be heard by Ruby.

_"Best. Friends. For-ev-er."_

The other woman sighed loudly and shook her head, groaning in a barely audible voice, "God, what did I do to deserve this shit…?"

…-^o^-…

It wasn't until lunch time that Ruby's plans finally began to bear fruit.

Charlie looked up to see several women walking over to their desks. She recognized them as secretaries. The blonde leading the pack was named Lilith, and she was Zachariah's personal secretary. Charlie had thought she looked like a Grade 'A' Bitch. The thought was confirmed as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Oh my God, Ruby! You were totally right. I thought you were joking when you said you worked with a freakshow! What was it? A ginger-hipster-lesbian? I can't believe you were _serious_!"

Charlie's back straightened at the undisguised insult. "_Excuse the hell out of me, bitch?_" She asked smiling carefully, tilting her head at Lilith and her giggling cronies.

Lilith ignored her completely, turning a warm smile to Ruby. "We're all going out for lunch. You should come with. Zachariah's name gets me into all the best restaurants."

To Charlie's mild shock, Ruby smiled back cheerfully at the woman, the happy look almost terrifying to see on her face.

It didn't look _bad_- Ruby was a hottie. But it was so unusual that Charlie felt like she had just stepped into the Twilight Zone.

"Thank God you asked! I was afraid I was going to be stuck eating here. You have no idea the ridiculous things _Mr. High-and-Mighty_ in there is making me do!" She gestured with an exasperated eye-roll to Castiel's office.

Lilith's smile widened like a crocodile's, and she crooned, "Oh, you'll have to tell me _all about it _over lunch. I feel so bad for you!"

"_Ugh! Definitely_!" Ruby stood and moved out from behind her desk, grabbing her purse as she went. She cast an disgusted look over to Charlie, who was glaring up at her, and snapped out, "Oh my God! Stop checking me out for like, five seconds, _puh-lease_!" She turned her eyes helplessly to the other women, giving them a look that obviously showed how freaked out she was by Charlie. "And take care of the rest of that paperwork on my desk while you're here. I'm sick of having to do ALL the work." She added, smiling smugly to the others and mouthing the word 'lazy'.

Charlie seemed to recover from her shock fast, rising slowly and biting out, "Slow your roll, bitch. I take orders from Mr. Novak, not blond tramps on power-trips. Except in the bedroom, of course. But, uh, you don't quite meet my _high standards_." She looked Ruby up and down, clearly not impressed.

Lilith stepped in at this point, smirking as she motioned Ruby away. She smiled a sickly sweet smile at Charlie and threatened, "Careful, freakshow. I have a lot of connections and sway with my boss, Zachariah. If you want to be employed this time next month, I suggest you learn your place."

Charlie frowned and sputtered for something to say back. Lilith didn't bother waiting, spinning gracefully away and sweeping out with Ruby in tow.

Just as they were almost out of the large office area, Charlie saw Ruby carefully glance back, her face showing a hint of concern.

Charlie threw her a wink and thumbs up, earning a genuine grin from Ruby before the woman turned back around and left.

…-^o^-…

Ted was on the phone again.

Tessa had already tried to eavesdrop again, but she ran out of excuses to linger around the man. She wasn't trying to be nosey. It was just that, the few bits of conversation she had managed to overhear sounded…bad. She was afraid Ted was involved in something serious.

"You going to stand there sighing all day, or would you mind refilling my coffee, Tess?" Henrikson's steady voice asked.

Tessa snapped her attention back to the man who was frowning at her. "Sorry Sheriff. Just thinking." She moved to fill up his coffee cup. He was seated at the counter, half-way through a slice of pie, as he watched the news.

"Anything good on today?" She asked, wrenching her attention away from Ted in his corner.

"More about that corporate shake-up. Apparently the ADA founder and oldest son still haven't been seen and rumors are flying. Left the youngest in charge. Kid looks miserable, if you ask me. And he's supposed to go toe to toe with Cathy Campbell tomorrow." He shrugged as he sipped his coffee and began working on his pie again.

Tess frowned at the report, looking up at the old television. The image was grainy at best, but she could she the flashing images on the screen well enough. The words were harder, but she managed to sort them out. It was all about the new heir to the company. The image of a handsome, frowning man with startlingly blue eyes appeared on the screen.

_Hmm…_ She thought in surprise. _The man had just about the exact same eye color as Ted. Lucky bastards, _she thought with a smile. She was stuck with plain brown eyes.

The image changed, the words flashing 'Missing ADA Founder'. An new image appeared.

Tessa blinked, squinting up at the screen. The same blue eyes again. This time on a the clean-shaven face of an older man. His hair was shockingly white.

She frowned, trying to see better. He actually looked a lot like-

The TV cut off.

Tessa turned fast to see Chuck holding the remote. He smiled at her gently, but his eyes stayed locked on hers. After a moment, he turned them pointedly to the Sheriff sitting a few feet across from where she stood, then back to hers.

Tessa's mouth opened slightly, but she closed it after a few seconds. Her wide eyes shot over to Ted, still talking on the phone and staring calmly out the window in his little corner booth.

When she finally turned back to Chuck, she had made a decision.

She nodded her head once. An unspoken agreement passing between the two.

"Sheriff, shouldn't you be getting on back to work? I'd hate for you to get into any trouble just because I make a damn good pie." She smiled brightly at the man, who glanced at his watch and hopped up quickly.

"You're right, I've been hanging out here too long. I'll see you two next time, alright?" He left without a second glance at her, Chuck, or the missing ADA founder who was sipping coffee in the corner booth of their small North Dakota diner.

…-^o^-…

Dean was pissed.

Actually, no- pissed didn't cover what Dean was feeling at the moment.

His Thursday was shit. It had started out shit. Progressed into more shit. And now, as the day was finally ending, was concluding- surprise!- as shit.

After making the announcement to everyone first thing in the morning that he and Lisa were back on and re-engaged, his friends had been giving him the silent treatment.

Who the fuck were they to judge him? He could damn-well decide who he wanted to spend his life with. Plus, Lisa was pregnant! As far as any of them knew, it was Dean's baby. Dean had been very clear about that.

Lisa had nodded her head quietly in response, but otherwise stayed silent. She wasn't comfortable with the lie. The irony that it had been her plan in the first place didn't seem to make it any easier on her.

But despite all of that, their friends were hesitant to celebrate the news.

It was making Dean furious. Lisa didn't deserve to be treated like that. She was their friend. And Dean's fiancée, finally. The woman who was supposedly carrying his child.

And it was all because of Castiel.

Just thinking the name was enough to elicit a pang of sadness in Dean, but he tried to ignore it.

Everyone was reluctant to welcome Lisa back properly because they had convinced themselves that Dean was meant to be with Castiel. As if Dean hadn't been clear when he warned them all to drop it; pretend like the past several weeks had never happened.

Instead, they frowned at him constantly. They watched him and Lisa together with sad eyes.

Almost as if they knew it wasn't real.

Which was _bullshit_.

Sam being a punk-bitch and drawing on his face had been bad enough. But then Ellen had cancelled their concert for Friday. She had very curtly explained that it was a matter of practicality. Everyone's minds were going to be on the 'Big Interview' that was happening that morning. Castiel's interview.

It didn't help anything that Castiel's face was all over the TV and newspapers. Dean couldn't go anywhere without seeing Castiel or hearing about him, and the fucking ADA.

It turned out, damn-near half the city worked for the ADA. It seemed like all of Lawrence was tuned in to the latest news- nervously waiting for the interview. The fact that the new head of the company had worked right here in Lawrence briefly only made people more interested in the reports. The Road House now kept at least one TV turned to the news at all hours. Rumor was that the woman interviewing Castiel was a real hard-hitter. She had a reputation for going off script to blindside people. And she was said to have a not-so-secret grudge against the wealthy.

Dean tried to not to let it show, but he was scared.

Scared that Castiel, who he knew was reserved and uncomfortable socially, was going to be hurt by the woman. He wasn't sure that he could watch that- Castiel being attacked in front of the whole world. Dean was pissed about their circumstances and Castiel's abrupt departure from his life, but he couldn't turn off the fact that he cared about the man. He was having to deal with that fact every time the man's name came up.

Castiel was thrown in his face no matter where he went. He heard his name discussed constantly in stores, in the auto shop waiting room, on the damn street as people passed him, chatting to one another.

And now, at nine o'clock Thursday night, it was Castiel who was on Dean's mind, again.

Dean had arrived home to find the house to himself. Sam was staying over at Jess's apartment- the fucking coward laying low after his little face marking tantrum. Dean still had no idea what the fuck was up with _that_. And Lisa was out with Jo, who blessedly was making an effort to treat Lisa like she wasn't a leper. They were shopping for baby stuff then hitting up dinner and a movie. She expected to be back well after eleven p.m.

Which had left Dean with an afternoon free to continue cat-proofing the house. Lucifer was still shut away in his cage, patiently watching Dean passing by through his sharp green eyes. Or as Sam had described it, 'biding his time'. And it wasn't just Sammy that Lu was giving grief to. Lisa had stepped close to the cage when she had arrived the day before, excitedly reaching out to stroke the kitten's soft black fur. She had barely managed to pull her hand back at the low warning growl in time to avoid fast moving claws swinging towards her head.

Dean wasn't sure what to make of it.

The poor guy probably missed Castiel and the apartment.

And, deep-down, hidden away from the sharp eyes of his friends, Dean missed Castiel, too. And he hated himself for it. Hated the urges to call him. Hated the need to hear his deep voice cutting like gravel through the air. Hated that everything blue reminded him of Castiel's eyes. He just hated _everything_.

Dean managed to get most of the large house finally cat-proofed, while trying uselessly to banish thoughts of blue eyes and messy hair from his mind. He found a stopping point, and decided to call it a night, dreading the inevitable dreams of Castiel that were sure to come.

As the hot water of the shower washed over him, Dean urged his body to relax. It had been days since he had gotten off last. Monday morning in fact. In that deep, blue bed with Castiel as the sun began to break outside his bedroom window.

Dean groaned at himself for allowing his mind to remember that morning. His dick twitched enthusiastically, clearly missing the memo from his brain that thoughts of Castiel were not welcome.

With an annoyed sigh, Dean cut the shower off and stepped out. _No helping it, now. Little Dean was already perking up. Might as well take care of it._

He reached into the cabinet under the sink, pulling out his stashed 'Busty Asian Beauties' magazine.

He could knock this out quick, then get to bed and, try to fall asleep before thoughts of Castiel could harass him, hopefully.

Twenty minutes later, Dean was cursing furiously at his traitorous dick, panting helplessly as it refused to respond to the posing figures on the pages. Not even page thirty-two! And she had a lot going for her…

He released himself with a groan and leaned against the sink while he stood over the toilet.

_He wasn't going to do it._

_He knew exactly why he wasn't getting off, and what he needed to do if he wanted to._

_But, he wasn't going to go there._

His half-hard dick waited limply for him to cave, occasionally sending a short pulse of heat and need through his body.

Dean cursed angrily. All he wanted to was to get off so he could get to sleep. It wasn't like someone was going to suddenly pop out from the towel closet and shout, 'Haha! Caught you wanking off to Castiel! Loser!'

He heaved a sigh and released the floodgates of memory.

_Castiel eyes meeting his in the darkness as flashes of fireworks burst high above him._

_Castiel's warm smile as he looked up at Dean in the early morning light of dawn, hair ridiculously messed up and wild._

_Castiel hot hands grasping his shoulders, nails digging deep as Dean pumped into him hard from behind. Letting his lips graze over that tantalizing little tattoo just below the back of the man's neck._

Dean's breath was ragged, his cock finally getting onboard with his mind, hardening as he stroked with each imagined thrust into Castiel.

But his final release still eluded him.

Dean worked at it for several more minutes before finally letting out a roar of needy rage.

He couldn't understand it! Ever since meeting Castiel he had never failed to come at the thought of the man. And now, when he went against his own best wishes and allowed himself to fantasize about the man- it was useless.

Dean stomped his foot.

_He had to get off. Now. He refused to quit so far into the game._

He let his tired mind drift, focusing on his breathing. And then Dick Roman's words suddenly flashed across his mind. _'What I think is that Castiel is not going to put up for long with a straight boyfriend who won't bottom for him.'_

That single line slammed through his mind like a train, smashing through the haze of horniness that surrounded his thoughts.

In his desperation to latch on to anything that could help him get off, Dean made a decision.

A terrifying decision...

He clenched his jaw tight, stomach fluttering at the thought of what he was going to do. He grabbed his towel and wrapped his lower body with it, the soft cotton material rubbing against his hard member.

With the stealth and caution possessed only by ninjas and chronic-masturbaters, Dean slowly opened the bathroom door, the sudden rush of cold air creating goosebumps across his still damp skin. He poked his head out slowly, ear tuned to even the slightest noises. It was never safe to assume a house was empty, especially when the stakes were high. The last thing Dean needed was for Sam or Lisa to suddenly show up while he was half-naked and fully hard.

When he was confident that the coast was clear, he made a dash for his room. The lights were off throughout the house, only the dim lights from streetlights shining through the window helping him navigate the darkness.

A sudden meow was the direction of Lucifer's cage startled Dean, but he recovered quickly, face reddening slightly as he mumbled, _"Don't you judge me, Lu."_

Once he made it to the safety of his bedroom he shut and locked the door fast. He allowed himself one steadying breath, before dropping the towel and moving quickly across the space to the closet.

If he slowed down or let his brain catch up, he might wuss-out.

He pulled Ash's box of gifts from its hiding place in the back of the closet.

At the top of the box were several guidebooks with pages bent to mark the sections that covered anal sex. Dean's mind flashed back to only last week, when he had enthusiastically perused the sections, taking in as much information and tips as possible.

_All for Cas, so Dean could impress him. Make him happy…_

Dean caught himself staring at the volumes and shook the memories from his mind. He removed the books, casting them to the side and searched deeper in the box. He remembered seeing several items that would suit his needs. His hands found a box shaped like the ones he remembered and he pulled it out with shaking hands.

'Crystal Jellies Anal Starter Kit' the package read.

Dean felt a shiver run through his body. _Am I really going to do this...?_

He stared at the three cock-shaped toys in the box, each one a varying size, small, medium, and large.

_Yep...I'm really going to do this…._

Before his nerves could build up more, he tore into the package and pulled out the smallest dildo and the complimentary bottle of unscented lube.

_Alright_, he thought, _you've done this kind of thing with Cas. You've read up on all of it. Nothing to be freaked out about. It's supposed to feel good. At the very least he would be prepared for the not-too-distant-future prospect of prostate exams…. _

_Geez, his mind was delirious from nerves…._

He positioned himself on his bed, resting on his knees, his cock bobbing in anticipation.

Uncapping the lube, he poured it generously into his hand, letting it coat his fingers, before placing the small bottle on his nightstand. He paused for just a moment, staring at his slick hand in the dim light of his dark room. His breath caught as the full magnitude of what he was about to do hit him.

_There wasn't any going back from this point. If he did this and…and liked it, then he couldn't just go back to normal, could he?_

_And if he didn't like it, then what? Would that mean Dick was right? Dean wasn't really gay?_

He frowned at the thought, the urge to prove Dick wrong surprisingly being the motivation he needed to proceed.

He reached his hand behind himself and shifted forward to give himself better access. He let his fingers glide tentatively across his tight hole a few times. It was sensitive, small tingles ghosting through him.

He took a deep breath and slowly pushed a finger in. He felt himself clench, shying away from the alien sensation. He stopped for a moment, letting himself adjust.

The guides had all said that going slow and having patience was key for first time penetration. He had pretty much skimmed over those sections, just because Cas already had that part down. Naturally, he hadn't expected to be fingering himself open on his bed only a week later.

He checked his breathing, forcing himself to remain calm as he pushed his digit further inside. It felt strange. He could feel his muscles tightening and loosening around him, small shudders shaking him each time the gripped around his finger. He pulled out partially, then pushed back in faster.

_It didn't hurt…._

Encouraged, he pulled his finger out and pressed slowly back in with two digits now. His body resisted the intrusion more this time, causing him to roll his hips a bit to accommodate the stretching. There was the presence of a dull, aching sensation now, coming from the entire area. But not necessarily pain. Just a mild discomfort from the intrusion.

He allowed his body several more moments to relax before pushing both fingers deeper. The feeling of being filled and of having his muscles squeezing against him was different from anything he had ever experienced. He had never imagined that he would be able to feel so much sensation in that part of his body. He decided to add a third finger, easing it in carefully to join the other two.

He thrust the digits in and out, increasing the pace as he grew more relaxed and comfortable. The dull pain was still presence, but there was no searing pain or sharp tearing sensations like his mind had always imagined came with anal sex.

Dean removed his fingers, sighing slightly at the feeling of loss. It surprised him that he felt empty without them.

His cock had softened during the process. He gave it a few gentle pulls to keep it roused, then reached over to pick up the small dildo.

He hesitated. The toy was certainly small. It was shorter than the average dick (not that Dean made a habit of checking or anything), and had a smaller girth. He held his other hand up to it and estimated that it was approximately the same size as his three fingers together.

He squirted lube on it, rubbing all over to ensure that it was completely coated. Once he felt comfortable, he leaned forward again and positioned it at his entrance. The head of the toy rubbing against his hole felt weird, but he began to apply pressure despite the fact.

He was met with resistance immediately. He couldn't be sure if it was all in his head or if the toy was just shaped in a way that made it harder to push in than his fingers. His breaths became more harsh as he steadily increased pressure, willing himself to loosen up and allow it entry.

A sharp, burning pain began to grow the more he pressed, causing a sweat to break out all over his body, but he continued to add more and more pressure, afraid to lose his progress by backing out now.

After a few more pained seconds he felt something give and knew immediately that he had made it past the tight ring of his entrance. His muscles clenched and released as he let his body adjust to this new feeling.

The sharp burning was still present, but fading fast as his body slowly relaxed around the toy.

Very slowly and carefully, he inched the dildo in further, paying close attention to every sensation and the increasingly full feeling. Once it was fully in, Dean began pulling it slowly back out, feeling his body resist the loss and try to grip it tightly. He hummed at the feeling, heat flushing his body.

His ass was beginning to feel sore from being stretched in a way it wasn't used to. The dull ache was distracting him, but it was still manageable.

He reached down to stroke himself with his free hand, simultaneously pulling and pushing the toy in and out.

_Not so bad at all,_ he thought to himself with a small flash of pride. _It didn't feel great, but it was nowhere near as painful as his fearful mind had built it up to be over the years. He had done it._

Feeling a strong sense of courage at his victory, he began to experiment more with the small toy. He slowly tilted it and let it roll widely. His muscles ached at the stretching movement, tightening as he tested his boundaries.

Meanwhile, his hand continued its steady pace on his dick, urging it back up.

He returned to the thrusting movements, this time allowing his mind to wander completely free.

_He pictured Castiel, grinning sexily up at him. Imagined it was his fingers working themselves in and out of him. His hand pulling at Dean's cock._

Dean felt his breath deepen as he increased the pace.

_Castiel's blue eyes locked on his, enjoying watching Dean succumb to the new sensations he was causing._

Dean moaned loudly, intentionally tightening down on the firm bulk of the toy inside him. _Fuck. Ah, holy shit…._

His cock was hard and heavy in his shaking hand, precum already dripping slowly from the tip and Dean milked the heated length.

_'Do you like that Dean? Like me pressing inside you- feeling you up good? Do you want more?'_

Dean was so close his whole body was shuddering and rocking into the thrusts of the toy. Holy shit- so good! The dull aching had disappeared under the more prominent, tantalizing burn that was spreading and all over his body.

His movements grew erratic as the hand grasping the bottom of the toy tried to push it further and deeper into him, reaching for something.

One deep thrust at just the right angle ripped a keening moan from Dean's breathless mouth.

_There! He needed more- right there!_

He pushed deep again, desperate, searching as he tried to mimic the thrust. He tilted the toy again going as deep as he could, cursing the wide, flattened bottom of the toy that was inhibiting him from pressing deeper.

He groaned with helpless fury, rocking himself fully backward, the semi-firm surface of the mattress pressing the toy deeper as his hips rolled uncontrollably.

_Please-please-please-!_

He felt his eyes stinging from the tears that were building.

_God-! If he didn't hit that spot again he was going to die of frustration! _

He rocked and circled his hips around as his hand fisted his aching cock, so close to finally reaching that release.

Suddenly, he rocked in just the right way and saw stars. His body jolted with pleasure. He held it there, rolling barely enough to repeatedly hit the spot with each movement, heat and sensation and toe curling pleasure accompanying every brush of the nerves.

He felt his orgasm build slowly, deep inside him. Tried to breath, to prepare himself. _Holy shit!_ He had never felt it coming on so strong before! His body moved on its own, keeping the contact deep inside him as his muscles started clenching up uncontrollably to squeeze down on the toy.

The ripping of heat and raw nerves choked the breath out of him as his body shot up and tightened. He shot his release in several short, mind-racking bursts, as his hand pulled at his pulsing cock with tight, hard strokes. His throat burned, and he realized that he was shouting helplessly until all of his the breath left lungs.

The last shuddering pulses of pleasure finally faded enough for him regain control of his body. He pitched forward numbly, shoulders grazing, then sliding down the wooden headboard in front of him. He collapsed, boneless, in a gasping heap on top of his pillows.

As the deafening buzz in his mind finally ebbed away, all he could manage to think was, _'Well, I'll be damned.'_

And because that didn't even begin to cover it, he repeated it out loud, his hoarse voice sounding foreign and distant.

"I'll be _damned_…"

…-^o^-…

"We need to get back, Balthazar!"

Castiel tried to shout the words over the loud music of the club. He had lost his tall friend for nearly thirty minutes in the huge, crowded space. The lights were kept turned down, the occasional strobe light flashing as the only real light in the place.

He didn't have time for this. Tomorrow morning he was going to be facing off with the scariest woman on live TV for an interview. The last thing he need was to show up unprepared. She would destroy him...more than she was already going to as it was.

Castiel was tired. He had been jostled, pushed, elbowed, and worst of all, hit on, for the last several hours. At one point, he had tried to dig out his phone to call Balthazar to find the man, and had discovered that his cell phone was gone- probably pick-pocketed.

He was furious that he had even agreed to sneak out in the first place.

Balthazar had been insistent though. He refused to take no for an answer, stating that Castiel needed to get out and let loose if he was ever going to get over Dean.

His solution had been that they escape from the ADA building, after curfew, and hit up the most popular gay club in Hillcrest.

And then, apparently **ditch** Castiel and leave him to fend off handsy men the whole night.

He'd even made the mistake of crossing the dance floor while looking for Balthazar. It was a terrible mistake. He had suddenly been ambushed on all sides by random men enthusiastically _dry-humping_ him.

_It was horrible._

By the time he finally found Balthazar- taking shots from the belly-button of a handsome man's toned stomach- he was borderline pissed.

He tried to pull on Balthazar's shirt to get him to move away from the cheering crowd.

Suddenly, Castiel's eyes caught on a flash of green. He did a double take, eyes falling upon a smiling face nearby.

The stranger seemed to have been hoping to catch Castiel's attention, giving him a small smile and a wink when their eyes met.

Castiel was too focused on the man's face to care.

He had short, styled blond hair and light green eyes.

_Just like Dean_.

Unfortunately, the similarities stopped there. The stranger was tall and thin. He was wearing a high-end collared shirt and nice slacks that Dean would probably never be seen dead wearing.

_But, those eyes…._

The man was already moving towards Castiel.

He panicked for a moment, debating running, but he was too lost in those _damn_ eyes.

The man arrived in front of him, smiling widely and leaning in close. His voice was friendly and edged with hope. "Hi there."

Castiel realized he was staring into the man's eyes still, and hurriedly looked away. "Hi. Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to stare."

"No, it's fine. Really. I like the attention." The man seemed surprisingly easy-going compared to the rest of the people in the club who were desperately throwing themselves at him all night. Castiel felt himself relax, just barely.

"My name's Ryan." The man said loudly over the music and loud cheers (Balthazar did five sequential shots, each out of a different man's naval).

"Cas," Castiel answered, flinching when he realized that he had told the man his nickname. _The one Dean gave him…._

"Nice to meet you, Cas." Ryan smiled and shook his hand. There were more loud cheers (Balthazar bought a round of shots for the whole group). Castiel and Ryan both cringed at the noise. "Hey, do you want to, uh, maybe go somewhere…quieter?" Ryan asked, leaning close to Castiel's ear, his breath tickling the sensitive flesh.

Castiel glanced back over to Balthazar (who appeared to be spanking a young man, who looked to be enjoying himself immensely).

Castiel turned back to Ryan, who was waiting patiently, eyes clearly saying that he was willing to beg.

"Yeah…Yes, let's-"

"No. He's leaving. Right now." A firm hand on his arm and Dick's voice had Castiel spinning around fast.

"Dick? What the hell?" Castiel stammered. Ryan seemed uncomfortable, eyeing the two men carefully.

"I'll take you back. Let's go." Dick tugged on his arm, but Castiel wrenched it away, more confused than angry.

"How did you even know we were here?"

Dick frowned at him. "What? I got your text. How drunk are you?" He leaned down, apparently inspecting Castiel's eyes in confusion.

"I-I'm not drunk, Dick. And I didn't text you. I lost my phone earli-" Castiel stopped. He had reached into his pocket automatically at the mention of his missing phone, but his hands had suddenly wrapped around it.

_As if it had been in there the whole time_.

Castiel pulled it out and stared at it, lost as to how it was back. _He was sure it hadn't been in there an hour ago…._

He turned it on and checked his sent messages and, sure enough, there was one sent to Dick.

**C: need a pick-up fast. very drunk at the reaper bar in hillcrest. help-guys keep touching me.**

Castiel read and re-read the text incredulously.

_No way he had sent it._

He looked up at Dick who was mean-mugging a very worried looking Ryan.

"Dickie-boy! So glad you could make!" Balthazar's loud voice cut through the crowd.

Dick froze, his eyes widening almost comically as Balthazar suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around him from behind.

"You here to Par-tay, Dickie?" Balthazar asked, emphasizing 'Par-tay' by thrusting his hips against Dick's ass with each syllable.

Dick's face turned bright red and he clawed furiously at Balthazar's arms. "Get the hell off of me you drunk moron!"

Castiel shook his head. Balthazar had been drinking, but was certainly nowhere near drunk.

Hell, drowning in a tank of scotch wouldn't phase the man.

No, he was faking it, as usual, to piss of Dick.

And it was working.

Castiel sighed and turned back to Ryan, who at this point had his eyebrows raised so high they were almost shooting off his forehead. "It was nice meeting you, Ryan. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

The eyes that looked so much like Dean's met his again, and the man smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe another time…?" He asked, face flushing a bit.

Castiel looked at the man. _He liked him. He seemed mature and friendly. Actually, a pretty good match to the type Castiel was usually into. But, he looked just a little too much like Dean. And Castiel couldn't pretend that he wasn't considering saying yes to the man based soley on his appearance._

"Uh…maybe." Castiel answered weakly, and he could tell Ryan caught the underlying 'no'.

The other man nodded, and slowly walked away.

Castiel huffed a sigh. _It was just too soon for all this. He should never have let Balthazar convince him to come out._

He turned back to the two men. Dick was using all his strength to fend off a kiss from Balthazar, the blonde man's head locked tightly in his shaking hands.

"Alright, Dick. Let's head back." Both men paused, turning to Castiel as if they had forgotten he was there.

Dick took advantage of the moment, ducking out from under Balthazar's grip and letting out a very out-of-character gleeful victory shout once he was free. He seemed to recover himself quickly at Castiel and Balthazar's raised eye-brows, straightening out his suit nervously.

He cleared his throat and spoke to Castiel. "Yes. For god's sake, let get out of this…pit."

He pointedly _did not _look at Balthazar as he turned and walked away, Castiel following behind him.

A glance back showed a grinning Balthazar watching the tall man with sharp, sober eyes as he disappeared into the crowd.

Castiel winced, almost feeling sorry for Dick.

He knew that look, but he certainly wasn't expecting to see it directed at Dick.

_People were so surprising sometimes, _he thought as he turned back, leaving Balthazar and his Cheshire Cat grin behind.

...-^o^-...

Shortly after Castiel and Dick's departure, Balthazar felt a sharp pinch on his ass.

He turned fast, smiling at aggressive offender.

He froze.

Never one to be caught off-guard for long, he smirked and drawled, "Lovely ascot, Gabriel."

Gabriel grinned broadly at him. He was dressed in what only his twisted mind would consider 'incognito'.

His outfit consisted of leopard print skinny jeans, a flared sleeve white pirate shirt that was unbuttoned all the way down his chest, exposing pale skin.

And of course, a neon-orange ascot.

Balthazar decided to not even go there. He chose instead to ask the most obvious question.

"I take it you're the one who called Dickie in to take Cassie away?"

Gabriel gave an elegant bow, dipping forward lowly.

Balthazar assumed that was an acknowledgement of guilt. Probably.

"I also take it you have some sort of idea to help get Cassie out of this predicament?"

Gabriel grinned darkly. "Idea? Balthazar, baby, I have a whole fucking War Strategy. I'm going to to bring Heaven and Hell crashing down by the time this is all over."

He winked up at the taller man and asked lowly, "Wanna help?"

* * *

Well, that sounds exciting... (* x *) Your thoughts?

Next up: THE INTERVIEW (Dramatic Reverb)


	30. Chapter 30-Interview With The Vampire

Beta: InthePalmOfMyHand

* * *

Castiel wasn't sure his legs were going to keep holding him up.

They were already shaking uncontrollably, along with every other part of his body.

He was standing (barely) in the Green Room of the Cathy Campbell Morning Show studio. Everyone was watching him fight his way through his latest panic attack with wary eyes. Dick was behind him, giving him a shoulder massage, which, for this one time, Castiel wasn't going to shy away from.

He couldn't do this. How in the Hell was he was going to be able to do this? Surely no one seriously thought that he was going to be able to sit calmly while some ruthless fox-woman verbally attacked him in front of the entire world on live TV.

Castiel tried to squeeze out the words to tell the worried looking team that he couldn't do this. Tried to tell everyone. But all that came out was breathless cough.

The door flew open, causing Castiel to jump nearly a foot in the air. "They're almost ready for you. You remember everything the teams covered?" Michael spoke fast as he entered the small room, giving Castiel a scrutinizing stare. "Stay away from the the topic of the embezzlement. And don't let her goad you into defending the motives of your missing father and brother. And absolutely do NOT touch the subject of homosexuality. Castiel-" Michael stepped up in front of him, grasping him as he met his eyes. "If the public finds out you're gay, the company could crumble over-night. You cannot screw this up."

Castiel stood, staring back at him blankly.

_I'm going to single-handedly destroy the company over-night. Oh. God._

A knock at the door signaled that it was time to stand-by off-stage. It sounded to Castiel like nails being hammered into his coffin.

Ruby, Charlie, Naomi, Dick and Balthazar all watched with pale faces as he moved stiffly out of the room. No one spoke, not even to offer him encouragement or advice. They had already said everything they could think of beforehand.

It was all up to him now.

As he stepped up to the side of the brightly lit set, his eyes took in the room. It had comfortable looking, plush seats. A woman with sharp eyes and a tight-fitting business suit was sitting calmly in one of the seats, looking carefully over notes written in a notebook. The sounds of people pulled Castiel's attention off the fake-looking comfort of the set where he saw a large audience shifting patiently and chatting in muted tones in bleachers. Mid-way in front of the crowd, closer to the set, several huge black cameras were moving to focus onto where the woman sat.

_I'm never going to pull this off_, he thought as his throat closed tightly with horror.

A hand tapped his shoulder, causing him choke on the air that rushed from his lungs.

"…Alfie?"

"Good morning, sir! You look excited! I just wanted to offer you some advice." The young man smiled and Castiel nodded numbly, too terrified to be annoyed by the enthusiastic intern. The young man's voice shifted from almost blindingly cheerful to low and serious as he stared deep into Castiel's eyes. "Don't lie about anything and tackle every question she throws you honestly, no matter what it is."

Castiel blinked in shock as the man patted his arm, smile returning as if it had never left.

"You're up, sir!" And the next thing Castiel knew he was half-stumbling with legs of jelly onto the set; the eyes of the world were on him.

_I can't do this! I can't-!_

Castiel felt the increasingly familiar feeling of darkness closing in as he, ironically, stepped into the blinding white lights of the set. Behind the lights, he could see the rows and rows of faces that made up the studio audience. Eight huge cameras turned, locking on to him.

And it suddenly occurred to him: If everyone was really watching this interview, was it possible-? Could _Dean_ be watching, too? Was he in Lawrence, tuned in, seeing Castiel at this very moment?

Dean could be watching him, this very second, through the bulky lens of one of those monstrous cameras.

Maybe even...worried for him...?

Castiel straightened sharply, sucking in a deep, fortifying breath, and walked bravely forward.

…-^o^-…

Dean's friends and fellow mechanics had the courtesy not to say anything as Dean finally entered quietly and joined the crowd of workers and customers in the packed waiting room.

_Of course he was going to watch. Didn't mean he missed Cas or anything… just wanted to see how it all went._

_Yeah, right._

Dean felt a tight knot of nerves and anticipation growing in his stomach. His body was shaking, and he knew that the watchful eyes of his friends saw it, but they kept blessedly silent.

Bobby motioned to him, signaling an open spot by the older man's side at the front of the large crowd. Dean swallowed thickly, but moved forward to join him right in front of the waiting room TV.

The room was silent, almost twenty eyes eagerly waiting for the new Head of the ADA to make his appearance.

_For Cas to appear..._

Dean's body gave a soft shudder, the muscles of his slightly sore ass clenching. His mind flashed back to the night before, when he had shamelessly fantasized about Cas… being _back there_. Filling him up so totally and completely….

_Shit. Who was he kidding? This was going to be torture. Cas was too warm and gentle to playing hard ball with the manic bitch, Cathy Campbell. The woman was practically on a personal mission to expose high ranking politicians and big business owners. Hell, Dean had even been kind of a fan of the woman, back when he agreed that all rich people were evil. Back before Cas stepped into the damn garage looking torn up and adorable..._

Dean wasn't sure he could handle watching Cas be hurt. Watching such an honestly kind, innocent man be attacked for being forced into a job he hadn't ever asked for.

_C'mon, Cas. You can do this…._

The cameras panned to the far left and Castiel stepped out, his eyes seeming to lock directly onto the camera, as if he could see past all the miles separating them, straight into Dean's eyes.

Dean sucked in a breath. He willed the other man to hear him as he poured all his strength into the silent prayer.

_You can do this, Cas..._

…-^o^-…

Tessa, Chuck and even Ted, himself, sat at the counter and watched the small TV in the diner as the new ADA head stepped into the cameras' view.

Ted did not appear nervous, considering that Tessa now knew that it was his youngest son who was about to appear on one of the toughest talk shows on TV. The man just sipped his coffee as if he was staring out his booth's window on any other day.

Unable to stop herself, Tessa reached out, placing a warm hand on the older man's forearm.

He didn't bother to shift his gave to her as he reached over to pat her hand in return, his eyes remaining fixed calmly on the screen.

…-^o^-…

"You think he's gonna faint?" Charlie asked the group, horror in her voice as she watched her boss enter the set. He appeared to stumble, just barely, pausing to stare at the cameras and crowd.

"No." Responded five confident voices in sync.

And, as if he could hear their confidence in him, he suddenly straightened up, his face relaxing, with a small glint of determination appearing in his eyes.

Charlie smiled, recognizing his demeanor as that of the beginning of a Think Tank session.

_There you go, boss. You've got this! Now, tear this bitch a new one! _Charlie silently cheered.

..-^o^-…

"Thank you so much for joining us today, Mr. Novak!" Cathy Campbell stood, reaching out her hand for an alarmingly firm handshake.

Castiel didn't flinch, like most people who underestimated her powerful grip. He just returned it with a strong shake of his own. The lovely woman's lips quirked up just the slightest bit.

She gestured for him to sit.

"So, Mr. Novak, let's jump right in, if you don't mind. It seems I can't go anywhere without seeing your face in the headlines or on the TV. Tell us- what is it like, suddenly catapulting into fame over-night?"

The question was meant to be conversational. It was intended to put him at ease before she could swoop in and catch him off-guard. Cathy had been doing this job for over a decade. Although the world considered her largely a bitch, she knew that it was a love/hate relationship. The public wanted to see her crucify the high and mighty on their behalf. They counted on her to hit low and hard, digging into the deeply buried secrets of the powerful. In all her years interviewing the world's leaders, only one man had managed to escape her death-like grip.

This man's father, Theodore Novak.

Cathy realized that this was her opportunity to finally seize that ever-elusive victory that had haunted her career.

Everybody had secrets.

Everybody was afraid of something being discovered. Especially the rich and powerful, who bled their fame from the life-blood of the innocent public.

She hadn't been able to discover Theodore Novak's demons.

But his son? His weakness had been too easy.

She smiled widely as the man in front of her paused almost as if frozen.

_Come on, handsome. Let's give the people watching the show of their lives_.

To her surprise, the blue-eyed man in front of her shrugged- _shrugged!_- his shoulders, and replied with a helpless little smile, "Well, Cathy, honestly, it's a lot like what I imagine Hell to be."

And that was his answer. He blinked at her, as if patiently waiting for the next question.

_Well... fuck…_ Cathy thought, her smile almost faltering.

The studio audience sat in a stunned silence.

...

_From where they stood off-stage, watching the show, the ADA team's jaws all dropped. _

_Michael made some sort of deep throated whine as his face paled visibly._

_..._

_In Lawrence, Kansas, Dean felt his heart swell with pride and also a sharp jab of pain. _

_Cas was miserable. He was unhappy...And Dean was half-way across the country. It felt more like worlds away..._

_..._

Cathy pulled on her years of experience and recovered quickly. Her voice was sharp and critical. "You mean to say that a _massive wealth_ and _private jets_ is a form of _hellish torture_, Mr. Novak?" There! She smiled smugly. Nothing turned an audience against someone faster than pointing out the gap between rich and poor.

The man stared at her pensively, then tilted his head to the side as if confused. "I thought your question was how I felt about being abruptly pulled from my regular life?" Cathy actually flinched at having her own words thrown back at her. "The honest answer is, it sucks. Even with things like money and jets." He looked down, seemingly thinking hard, then gazed at her with his bright blue eyes. "I'm beginning to suspect that Cinderella did not actually live happily ever after, either."

Then he smiled a sad, earnest smile and the studio audience _lost their minds_.

The loud applause (unprompted by the Applause Sign) washed over Cathy along with the sinking sensation of dread.

Clearly she was going to have strike fast to win this.

Putting on her most sympathetic tone, she patted his hand and spoke, "I can barely imagine how it must feel. First, your father _abandons_ the company without warning, followed by your brother. No one knowing _where they are or why they left_! How are you, personally, dealing with the _scandal_ and _rumors of embezzlement_?"

_Flawless_! She thought gleefully. _None of that was public knowledge yet! An insider source had leaked it anonymously to the news station. It was blow after blow of shocking secrets that he was put on the spot to answer._

She heard the shocked gasps and murmurs of the studio audience processing the information and tried to contain her grin.

_..._

_The ADA team stared on with shock. _

_The secrets they had tried so hard to keep from the public were out. Someone had managed to leak them already. There was nothing left to do but sit back and wait as the public lashed out at them in rage and fear._

_Dick's eyes had never left Castiel's. He suddenly spoke, moving forward fast, "I'm pulling him out of there. It's already over, he shouldn't have to go through this-"_

_A hand caught him. He turned to find Balthazar's eyes on his. "Have some faith, Dickie." The tall blond gave Dick a small, soft smile. Dick frowned, turning back to the set, where Castiel seemed to be thinking hard._

_..._

_In Lawrence, Dean and the rest of the group crowded into the small waiting room were frozen in surprise. Several people asked no one in particular, "Is...is that true? Embezzlement? His father and brother are missing? Scandal? What does it all mean?!"_

_Dean had no idea what to make of it all. Could all of this be true? Is that why Cas was there? Because the company was falling apart?_

_If the company wasn't in jeopardy, would he have..._

_Would he maybe have fought harder to stay with Dean...?_

_Dean had to shake off the idea. That didn't matter- couldn't matter. The point was, he HAD left. They were over. Free to live their very different lives..._

_So, why was his heart aching so painfully...?_

_..._

Castiel Novak frowned, nodding his head slowly at Cathy's barrage of questions. At last, he sighed and looked into her eyes with his own wide, blue ones. "I'm worried about both of them, Cathy. Neither of them is the type to run from their problems, especially something as simple as missing money. I'm concerned that there were extenuating circumstances that made both of them fear for their safety, or the safety of the company employees."

Cathy's smug smile locked in place as she sucked in air tightly.

Another short, heart-felt answer that railroaded over her attempts to demonize him. How in the hell had he managed to spin the question into making his father and brother look like heroes?! And down-playing the embezzlement!

She was floundering, and she knew it. If she didn't turn this on him immediately, then he was going to win the sympathy of the public with almost no effort on his part.

She had to use the Ace in her pocket.

"I imagine the stress is taking a toll on more than just your work-life. This must be terribly stressful on your _girlfriend_ and home life, as well!" She frowned sadly for him, shaking her head at the idea.

_Take it! Take the bait! Say anything, then step back while I tear your lie into shreds!_

_She almost couldn't stay in her seat, she was so eager to call out his lie. She knew he was gay. She knew what being outed in public did to a prominent career. The conservative portion of the public was vicious when they saw an opening present itself. And when he denied it, then had it forcefully exposed, the remaining liberals would condemn him as well._

_She was not proud of playing this card; had nothing against the LGBT communities, or even his preferences._

_She had a problem with corruption._

_And she refused to have scruples about playing mean with small matters when the bigger issues could destroy innocent people's lives. She was willing to take Castiel Novak down, no matter how much she dragged herself through the mud to do it._

_She had to protect the People from him, and the people like him._

_..._

_Dean didn't realize he had almost fallen over until he found himself being lowered into one of the waiting room chairs by Benny and Bobby. _

_A few customers had turned to stare at him curiously, but everyone's attention was quickly pulled back to the TV screen._

_Even Dean couldn't rip his attention from the interview- from Castiel's suddenly pale, silent face._

_It was obviously a set-up. Anyone who knew Castiel was gay could see the clear manipulation of the question._

_There was no way that Castiel could answer honestly without burying himself. And if he answered honestly…?_

_Was he going to mention Dean? Their break-up just days before?_

_..._

_Michael's large form was sitting, collapsed, on the floor along the side of the wall, just off the stage. He was mumbling to himself and shaking his head helplessly._

_The rest of the group wasn't sure which way to look- at Castiel as the long, deafening silence filled the set, or at the stoic, always-calm Michael who was practically in the fetal position._

_It had almost defied belief how well the interview was going for the ADA Team. Castiel's abrupt decision to disregard all of the planning and scripts that had been prepared for him seemed to somehow work BETTER than their original plan. Everyone was beginning to see a finish line in sight._

_But, this last question was the deal breaker. Obviously Cathy knew something. It didn't even have to be substantiated. The mere hint or suggestion that Castiel was gay was enough to send public opinion plummeting. Followed by stocks. Followed by partners distancing themselves. And so on._

_They had lost. Worse, they had never actually been poised to win. It was all an illusion from the very beginning._

_Dick's heart was beating too fast. He wanted to get to Castiel, pull him to safety. A gentle squeeze of his arm made him realize that Balthazar was still holding onto him tightly. Dick looked at the other man's face with a small frown of confusion, but the blond was apparently focused completely on Castiel on the set._

_"Wow! Who knew an interview could get so exciting!" Alfie's peppy voice filled the horrified silence surrounding the group._

_All eyes turned to look at the man, who was almost buzzing with wide-eyed enthusiasm as Castiel finally began speaking._

…

"You're right, Cathy. This whole matter has really taken a toll on the people in my life. It's… selfish for me to act like I'm the only one suffering from the recent events. There really is no aspect of my life that hasn't been affected."

Cathy sucked in her breath, nails digging into her expensive skirt at the obvious omission of mentioning a girlfriend. _She had him! He was cornered and all she had to do was ask him directly and he would be forced to answer one way or another! _

The words formed on the tip of her tongue, and she opened her mouth-

But he met her eyes with a friendly smile, and continued before she could even begin, "And I'm actually gay, Cathy. Bi-sexual, technically, but definitely leaning more towards gay." He nodded his head as he spoke, seeming to test his own feelings on the matter, and find them to be accurate. Then, he turned back, smiling again and added apologetically, "Sorry for the confusion."

His easy admission was met with the sound of everyone in the large audience's sudden intake of breath.

Cathy felt like she had just been physically slapped across the face. _He took it! He took her last weapon away from her, then SMILED at her like it was just a child's squirt-gun._

She wasn't going to allow him to leave her interview unscathed. She didn't care if it was petty. She didn't care if her ratings plummeted. She wanted to taste his rich, upper-class blood. If she was known forever after this as a ruthless vampire, then she was going to earn the title!

Before the audience could recover, she angrily jabbed the button of her small video controller, keeping a near-manic smile plastered on her face.

"It's so funny that you mention that, Mr. Novak! Because, as it turns out, we have discovered some very- shall we say- damning video of you from your time in college."

The room dimmed and a large screen display appeared behind them.

The video was raw, obviously amateur from some sort of hand-held device. It showed a large crowd gathered around a stage. Six men and women were sitting off to the side, holding pens poised as they closely watched the women lined up.

It appeared to be some sort of beauty pageant.

As the camera panned shakily across the lovely faces, Cathy suddenly froze the image and jumped out of her chair ecstatically.

"There! Right there, in the yellow! Do you deny that the person in the yellow dress is in fact, you, Mr. Novak?! In DRAG!" The sound of the crowd gasping and shuffling in the bleachers to see better filled the silence after the question.

…

_Dean's mouth was hanging open widely as he stared at the frozen image on the TV screen._

_It was definitely Castiel._

_His hair was longer, the lush dark locks grazing the top of his narrow shoulders. He looked younger, with no trace of the normal five o'clock shadow darkening his jaws. His blue eyes shone brightly, complementing the yellow dress that tucked nicely around the almost imperceptible curves of his slender frame._

_A deep, male voice from somewhere in the back of the waiting room said aloud what everyone else present, including Dean, was already thinking._

_"Damn…that is a pretty dude…"_

_There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room._

…

_Michael groaned weakly and fainted, but no one bothered to acknowledge him._

…

Cathy spun around, standing tall and proud of her victory. She cast her cold eyes on Castiel Novak, wanting to keep the memory of his horrified face to keep her warn on cold nights. She felt a flash of disappointment at the sight of him looking almost amused.

_Does this idiot not realize how bad this looks for him?_

She demanded loudly, "I'm sure the public would like to hear you explain yourself Mr. Novak!"

She watched in horror as he cracked a -sexy!- grin and -dammit!- _shrugged_ again.

_No. No! NO NO NO! He couldn't smooth his way out of this! He couldn't possibly flash those gorgeous blue eyes and woo his way out of this! Not THIS! It was DRAG, for god's sake! Even many pro-gay rights supporters balked at the mention of DRAG! It was a blatant display of homosexuality that people were notoriously fast to cringe away from. He was DONE!_

_He HAD to be done…._

"I can't believe you found another copy of that. My brother, Gabriel, has one that he took on his phone. He was in the audience."

Cathy stuttered, then forced herself to demand again, "What do you have to SAY for yourself, Mr. Novak? Tell the world- please!" She gestured furiously at the audience and cameras which were staring in shock, waiting.

He blinked at her in confusion, tilting his head again _(which she hated- absolutely hated, but it didn't-matter-cause-he-was-DONE!)_, then turned his wide eyes to the many cameras and the audience.

"Oh…. Well, I don't want to brag, but, uh, I did get First Place. And three of the judges' phone numbers."

The now-familiar stunned silence filled the large studio yet again.

From somewhere in the very back of the audience, behind the bleachers, the sound of one person slowly clapping echoed loudly.

Soon, another set of solitary, but more enthusiastic clapping joined the first, this time from off stage.

Castiel turned and saw that the second clapper was Alfie, right off-set with the others, beaming brightly.

And just like that, within a few seconds, the studio audience was on their feet, clapping and shouting and whistling like crazy.

Castiel's face flushed hotly, turning it a charming red, which made the crowd erupt into even louder applause.

Cathy stared at the crowd, then at Castiel Novak's blushing face. She yanked her microphone off and walked over to Castiel, covering his own clipped-on microphone and spoke softly.

"Alright. Well-played, Mr. Novak. I'm… _impressed_." Her face relaxed slightly and her lips quirked up, hinting that a genuine smile was hiding under her prickly exterior. "But, don't think this means I wont be watching you closely. If I catch even the slightest hint that you are up to something suspicious or illegal, I'll be on you before you even realize it. I won't stand by and let upper-class bastards take advantage of the little man." Castiel's eyes went wide with shock at the thinly veiled threat. Then, she gave him subtle wink that the cameras and audience wouldn't see. "_Even ones as cute as you."_

He blushed even brighter, his mouth falling open.

She turned abruptly back to face the audience and cameras, smiling brightly as she gestured to him with an outstretched arm, "Castiel Novak, ladies and gentlemen! The new head of the ADA!"

The crowd roared in approval.

…

The waiting room of Singer's Salvage was madness. People were hopping up and down, hugging and laughing. Many were on there phones, shouting into them how incredible the interview had been.

How incredible Castiel Novak was.

Dean sat in silence as the crowd buzzed and darted excitedly around him. His eyes stayed on the TV, watching with a small, proud smile as it zoomed over Castiel's blushing face and shy smile.

His heart fluttered and squeezed tightly.

_Good job, Cas…._

…

In the chaos of the studio audience, at the back, behind the bleachers, a small man in A/V team coveralls and ball cap covering most of his face grinned as he made his way out one of the side exits.

Gabriel cast another quick look back to the stage, where his baby brother was shaking hands with the show's producer and director.

_That's my baby bro_, he hummed cheerfully, unwrapping a sucker from his pocket and turning to stroll casually out of the building.

…

Tessa and Chuck turned slowly to stare at Ted with wide eyes.

He smiled warmly, then stood up and returned to his usual booth by the window.

...-^o^-…

As soon as Dean got off work later that afternoon, he drove to town to meet up with Lisa. She had asked him to be present for a doctor's appointment that afternoon.

Dean was uncomfortable being in the cramped room, filled with disturbingly accurate depictions of various stages and diagrams of pregnancy. Lisa seemed less fazed than he was, promptly following the doctor's instructions strip off her bottom clothing and lie facing up on the table in the center of the room.

As Lisa and the doctor discussed her health and rubbed some sort of thick goo all over her belly bump, Dean felt his mind returning, as it had been the entire afternoon, back to Castiel's interview.

_And Castiel's form-fitting suit that hugged all the right places._

_And Castiel's blue eyes lit up by the bright lights during the interview._

_And Castiel's perfect, kissable lips quirking up slightly into his adorable half-smile._

Dean needed…well, he needed to take care of himself. Specifically, he needed the privacy of a bathroom and the memory of Castiel's flushed face smiling at the camera's.

_Or, maybe even... smiling in the stage-lights, wearing a flowing yellow dress._

Dean wasn't exactly sure how he felt about seeing Cas in the bright colored dress, flashing his warm smile at the judges.

His cock, however, was practically on a loud-horn proclaiming its approval. He had been hard since they pulled the image up and Dean spotted those familiar blue orbs. It was seriously wreaking havoc on his already worn and tattered mind.

_What? Now he had a thing for drag on top of objects up his ass? What the fuck was happening to him?_

"Dean...?"

Dean snapped his attention back to the here and now to find both Lisa and the doctor staring expectantly at him.

"Uh…yeah, wh-what was that?" He stuttered, flinching at the doctor's frown.

Lisa's tentative smile faded, her eyes looking hurt. She stared into his face for a moment before forcing a sad smile and answering, "He says it's a boy."

"Oh." Dean responded. Then the magnitude of the announcement struck him. "Oh! Holy shit! A boy? That- Lisa that's great!" He leaned forward with excitement to place a kiss on her cheek. "A boy! Wow! I can't believe it!"

Lisa smiled, but there was still a hint of sadness remaining.

…-^o^-…

"Dean, can we…can we talk?"

Dean turned to look at Lisa as they exited the clinic. She wouldn't meet his eye and her smile was sad again. Dean felt a small bubble of dread work it's way up his chest to his throat.

"…Yeah. Sure. Um…let's grab a bench." They walked a short ways to the benches sitting along the sidewalk in front of the building.

They sat next to each other as people walked by them hurriedly, some chatting into cell phones, or to each other.

Lisa was quiet for several minutes, her eyes looking at the people passing, but not seeming to see them.

Dean shifted nervously.

_She knew something was up. Fuck! He had to stop zoning out around her! And give her more attention. I mean, shit, they were engaged and the kiss on the cheek he had given there in the doctors office had been the first intimate act he had performed since he had held her in the auto shop waiting room and promised to help raise the baby._

_…his son. Not 'the baby'. His and Lisa's son._

"Are you in love with someone?"

Dean's heart stopped in his chest at the quiet question. He couldn't turn to look at her, afraid of what his face would show.

"…Hah. What? You're seriously asking me, Dean Winchester, if I'm in love with someone? Come on Lisa. The only woman I could ever love is you. You know that." It came out smooth, almost rehearsed, but left a taste like plastic in his mouth. He reached his hand over to hers, pretending to be interested in people waiting at the nearby bus stop.

He felt her hand turn in and hold his, squeezing it tightly.

"Who is she?"

Dean couldn't help his hand from jerking noticeably.

"Lis, I told you, you're the only girl in my life." He forced his eyes to look ahead as he spoke lightly. _At least that wasn't a complete lie…._

"You're full of shit, Dean Winchester." Her voice snapped at him, but it was more somber than angry. Dean's eyes turned to hers in surprise and he realized that she was close to tears. "Why aren't you with her, Dean? Is it- Did you leave her because of me? Because you felt like you had to help me?" She sniffed, her free hand shooting up to wipe the first tears as they welled up and threatened to fall.

"Lisa, I- Listen, I want this, okay? I want to be with you. I made the decision. It was…It wasn't gonna work out, with…uh, it's just- it's over now. So stop that." He tugged her arm, pulling her to him closely and grasping her face in his hands for a kiss.

She accepted his kiss, but didn't kiss him back.

After a few seconds, he pulled away, frowning. "Lis?"

"I can't do this, Dean."

"Ca-can't do what?"

"This. Show up with my…my problems and ruin your chances of happiness." She pulled further away from him, taking back her hand and clenching it tightly in her lap.

"Hey! Don't say that. Your baby is not a 'problem'. Don't ever say that! You are doing everything you can to give it- him- the best life that you can. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you do it alone! Lisa," He pulled her hand back, holding tightly as she resisted, then gave up. "You are incredible, and strong, and perfect. You coming back here, to me, that- this is what I want. I want to help you. I could never live with myself knowing that you were trying to do all this on your own. So just…don't. Don't give up on this. We can make it work. I can make it work."

He finished softly, eyes pleading for her to believe him- desperate for her to see that he was being honest.

Lisa was fighting hard to keep the tears back as she shook her head. "I'm not going to destroy your one shot at happiness, Dean. I can tell- you love her. I don't need you admit it. I know you. You can't stop thinking about her. I should…I should never have just dropped myself back into the middle of your life. I just- I just thought that you would be here, waiting for me to come back. Ready to pick back up where we left off at. I shouldn't have been so selfish." She swiped away more tears.

"Lisa, stop. It's over. We- we ended it. For good. Uh, _she_ had to move away for work. It couldn't have lasted."

Dean felt the wrongness of misleading Lisa about Cas. It seemed somehow _worse_ to come so close to the actual truth, but keep the fact that Cas was guy a secret. But then, if Lisa was having so much trouble accepting that Dean had broken up with a girlfriend, how would she handle knowing it was a guy? Another woman in Dean's life was one thing. It could be played off eventually as just another quick fling that he had gotten unusually caught up in.

But a man that he had feelings for? There was no way she would believe that him dating a man was a meaningless fling.

"You didn't break us up, Lis. You just showed up as we were breaking up. I promise. She...she was probably going to dump me and leave to handle her work even if you hadn't shown up, so…." The truth of the words hurt him as he spoke.

_Dick had said it, hadn't he? That Cas was the new ADA head. That Castiel wasn't going to keep hanging around 'Nowhere, Kansas'. Especially for a lame-ass mechanic like Dean._

A gentle hand on his arm pulled him from his brooding and he looked over to find Lisa's deep brown eyes watching him with such genuine sympathy that he almost poured out the entire truth to her right there, on a bench in front of dozens of passing strangers.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" She whispered sadly, holding his gaze as she searched his eyes for the answer.

He knew she saw the truth before he even said the words, but he couldn't keep the secret buried inside him any longer. It felt like he was the only person in all of Lawrence that was in denial about his feelings. Like everyone else could take one look at him and see it written on his forehead, but he was insisting that if he couldn't see it, then it wasn't really there.

But he knew it was.

He felt the weight that had been building up inside him over the last two days drop off of him, finally, as he admitted more to himself than to her, "…_yes_."

"Oh, _Dean_-" And she was pulling him into a tight, warm hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so _sorry!_"

"Not your fault." Dean murmured from where his face was pressed tightly into her warm neck. "Wouldn't have worked out. H- _She's_ gone now. Took off in the middle of the night. All I got was a- a damn note about _discretion_." He pulled himself from her soft arms, ignoring the alarmed looks from the people passing by them.

A guy practically crying in a pregnant woman's arms right in front of a Prenatal Clinic probably looked bad...

He held her arms tight, meeting her brown eyes and almost begging, "I can't lose you now, too. Please, Lis. I _need_ you to stay. I can- I can't deal with _another_ person walking out of my life right now. Please stay."

"_Dean_…" She hesitated, staring into his pleading face. "I can't live a lie. I thought I could. I really thought that we could do this, but… this changes everything. If you are in love with her, then you should fight to be with her. Not staying with me."

"Lis, I'm telling you, it's over. We- we'll never be able to get back together now. It's done. She…she made that really clear. Please, just- don't cancel the engagement, okay? I just need a little time. _Please, Lis-_ y_ou're all I've got left…."_

They stared at one another in silence, holding tightly to each other. The rest of the world passed them by, but they kept their eyes locked onto each other's.

At last, Lisa's spoke, a hopeless smile turning up the corners of her mouth as her sad, doe eyes stared deeply into his. "I guess we'll just have to be lonely together, huh?"

Dean pulled her into a tight hug, mumbling a heart-felt thank you.

…-^o^-…

It was just as they were leaving the parking lot that Dean got the call.

His caller ID said it was Sam, so Dean pulled into an empty spot real quick to take it.

"Hey what's-" He began.

_'THAT CAT IS CRAZY DEAN- LIKE LEGITIMATELY OUT TO KILL ME!'_

Lisa eyes widened as Sam's voice shrieked loudly through the phone.

Dean frowned. "Sam, what the he-"

_'HE'S OUT DEAN! THE DAMN CAGE BROKE AND I CAME HOME AND HE WAS WAITING FOR ME!'_

"Sam calm the fuck down! You said Lucifer's out? Shit, man. He'll be fine. He's harmless."

_'No, Dean! He is NOT harmless. He came at me as soon as I walked in the door. Went straight for my head, like I was wearing catnip shampoo! I'm hiding in the bathroom. I can hear him- outside the damn door, Dean! He's fucking crazy! It's like the damn Apocalypse over here!'_

"_What_-? He's never attacked anyone's head befo-" His eyes fell on Lisa's worried face, remembering that that the small cat had acted strange around her, too. What was different about Sam and Lisa…? And suddenly the pieces all snapped into place. "Oh, shit! _Hair_! Sam- he likes _hair_! He must be going after you because your hair is so fucking long!"

_'…Are you shitting me?! Hair? How the-'_

Suddenly, the faint sound of Jess's voice was calling out in the background. '_Sam? Babe, I'm- Oh! Hi there, Lu Lu. Did they finally let you ou-'_

_'JESS-NOOOO!'_ Sam's voice screamed out through the line.

'Sam?! What-?! Where are yo- Ow! Wh-?! AAAHHHHHH!'

_'JESS I'M COMING HOLD ON!'_

"NO SAM! LEAVE HER!" Dean shouted uselessly into the phone.

Too late. The thumping and sharp sound of static was followed by the crash of a door being thrown open.

The muffled sounds of shouting and terrified screams could be heard on the other end.

"SAM!? SAM?! Damn it all-!" Dean threw the car into drive, Lisa holding onto anything she could grasp, her face a mask of horror.

"Dean- what-?!" She asked, panicked.

Dean's eyes never left the road as they barreled towards the house.

"Lucifer escaped." He gritted out slowly.

* * *

Thanks for all the outstanding reviews last chapter! I'd love to hear what you think of this one. Castiel was awesome, huh!? And maybe Lisa isn't sooo bad...? ;D Let me know what you think!

And, this chapter comes with a few quick questions. I just want to get a feel for how all you fantastic folks are feeling. No pressure to answer, I'm just wandering about a few things that haven't been clear in all the great reviews I've been getting.

1) What do you suspect is going to happen in the near future with our heroes?

2) What are you worried about most (as in, do NOT want to see happen)?

3) What is something you would LOVE to see happen to the characters (no promises, but I am here to serve...)? *Aside from Dean being punched in the face, thank you **HallowsEve** ;D *

Next Up: Unexpected guests!

Did Castiel sink the company?

The company spies reveal themselves. What do they want from Cas?!

Soooo exciting! I'll try to hurry this next one. I look forward to hearing from you all!


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